TREATMENT FROM THE JEPSON MANUAL (1993) |
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Jepson Interchange (more information) |
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©Copyright 1993 by the Regents of the University of California
For up-to-date information about California vascular plants, visit the Jepson eFlora. |
AND IS MAINTAINED FOR ARCHIVAL PURPOSES ONLY |
Annual to bamboo-like; roots generally fibrous
Stem generally round, hollow; nodes swollen, solid
Leaves alternate, 2-ranked, generally linear; sheath generally open; ligule membranous or hairy, at blade base
Inflorescence various (of generally many spikelets)
Spikelet: glumes generally 2; florets (lemma, palea, flower) 1many; lemma generally membranous, sometimes glume-like; palea generally ± transparent, ± enclosed by lemma
Flower generally bisexual, minute; stamens generally 3; stigmas generally 2, generally plumose
Fruit: achene-like grain
Genera in family: 650900 genera; ± 10,000 species: worldwide; greatest economic importance of any family (wheat, rice, maize, millet, sorghum, sugar cane, forage crops, ornamental, weeds; thatching, weaving, building materials)
Reference: [Hitchcock 1951 Manual grasses US, USDA Misc Publ 200; Clayton & Renvoise 1986 Kew Bull Add Series 13]
See Glossary p. 26 for illustrations of general family characteristics. Generally wind-pollinated.
Annual, perennial herb; stolons and rhizomes generally 0
Stems decumbent to erect
Leaves basal and cauline; sheath open ± to base; ligule thinly membranous, acute to truncate, sometimes toothed
Inflorescence panicle-like; lower branches reflexed to erect; spikelets stalked
Spikelet bisexual; glumes < lowest floret, lower glume generally 1-veined, upper 3-veined; florets 29; lemma generally firm, back generally rounded, sometimes weakly keeled near tip, margin entire to scabrous-serrate near tip at 10X , glabrous to weakly puberulent at base, generally faintly 5-veined; awn 0; palea ± = lemma
Species in genus: 50 species: temp to arctic, North America, Eurasia
Etymology: (B. Puccinelli, Italy, 18081850)
Reference: [Davis 1983 Syst Bot 8:341353]
Generally on wet saline or alkaline soils; some species difficult to separate without hand lens.
Introduced |
Perennial
Leaf: cauline blade flat to inrolled, 17 mm wide when flat
Inflorescence 2.522 cm; lower branches spreading to reflexed in fruit; spikelet stalk scabrous
Spikelet: lemma tip widely obtuse to truncate, margin near tip scabrous-serrate, lowest lemma 1.52 mm; anthers of lowest floret 0.51 mm
Chromosomes: 2n=14,28,42
Ecology: Saline meadows and flats
Elevation: < 2700 m.
Bioregional distribution: California Floristic Province, Great Basin Floristic Province
Distribution outside California: to Alaska, ne N.America; native to Eurasia
Flowering time: JunJul