Common Name: GRASS FAMILY
Habit: Annual to woody perennial herb; roots generally fibrous. Stem: generally round, hollow; nodes swollen, solid. Leaf: alternate, 2-ranked, generally linear, parallel-veined; sheath generally open; ligule membranous or hairy, at blade base. Inflorescence: various (of generally many spikelets). Spikelet: glumes generally 2; florets (lemma, palea, flower) 1--many; lemma generally membranous, sometimes glume-like; palea generally +- transparent, +- enclosed by lemma. Flower: generally bisexual, minute; perianth vestigial; stamens generally 3; stigmas generally 2, generally plumose. Fruit: grain, sometimes achene- or utricle-like.
Genera In Family: 650--900 genera; +- 10550 species: worldwide; greatest economic importance of any family (wheat, rice, maize, millet, sorghum, sugar cane, forage crops, ornamental, weeds; thatching, weaving, building materials). Note: Generally wind-pollinated. Achnatherum, Ampelodesmos, Hesperostipa, Nassella, Piptatherum, Piptochaetium, Ptilagrostis moved to Stipa; Elytrigia, Leymus, Pascopyrum, Pseudoroegneria, Taeniatherum to Elymus; Hierochloe to Anthoxanthum; Lolium, Vulpia to Festuca; Lycurus to Muhlenbergia; Monanthochloe to Distichlis; Pleuraphis to Hilaria; Rhynchelytrum to Melinis. The following taxa (in genera not included here), recorded in California from historical collections or reported in literature, are extirpated, lacking vouchers, or not considered naturalized: Acrachne racemosa (Roth) Ohwi, Allolepis texana (Vasey) Soderstr. & H.F. Decker, Amphibromus nervosus (Hook. f.) Baill., Axonopus affinis Chase, Axonopus fissifolius (Raddi) Kuhlm., Coix lacryma-jobi L., Cutandia memphitica (Spreng.) K. Richt., Dinebra retroflexa (Vahl) Panz., Eremochloa ciliaris (L.) Merr., Eustachys distichophylla (Lag.) Nees, Gaudinia fragilis (L.) P. Beauv., Miscanthus sinensis Andersson, Neyraudia arundinacea (L.) Henrard, Phyllostachys aurea Rivière & C. Rivière, Phyllostachys bambusoides Siebold & Zuccarini, Rottboellia cochinchinensis (Lour.) Clayton, Schedonnardus paniculatus (Nutt.) Branner & Coville, Schizachyrium cirratum (Hack.) Wooton & Standl., Schizachyrium scoparium (Michx.) Nash, Themeda quadrivalvis (L.) Kuntze, Thysanolaena latifolia (Hornem.) Honda, Tribolium obliterum (Hemsl.) Renvoize, Zea mays L., Zizania palustris L. var. interior (Fassett) Dore, Zoysia japonica Steud. Paspalum pubiflorum E. Fourn., Paspalum quadrifarium Lam., are now reported for southern California (J Bot Res Inst Texas 4:761--770). See Glossary p. 30 for illustrations of general family characteristics.
eFlora Treatment Author: James P. Smith, Jr., except as noted
Scientific Editor: James P. Smith, Jr., J. Travis Columbus, Dieter H. Wilken.

Common Name: FOUNTAIN GRASS
Habit: Annual, perennial herb. Stem: generally erect and tufted; internode solid or hollow. Leaf: basal and cauline; sheath generally glabrous; ligule short-hairy or membranous, ciliate. Inflorescence: terminal and/or axillary, generally panicle-like, dense, +- cylindric (raceme-like in Pennisetum clandestinum); spikelets generally many, short-stalked to sessile, generally in clusters of 1--4 on highly reduced branches, subtended by 6--many inner and outer sets of bristles and a single terminal generally >> than the others; spikelet cluster and bristles generally falling as 1 unit. Spikelet: dorsally compressed to +- round in ×-section; glumes 1--2, lower glume < upper when present; upper +- = spikelet; florets 2, lower floret sterile or staminate; upper floret fertile, lemma firm, +- thick or hard, smooth or scabrous, generally dull, margin flat to inrolled, tip blunt; palea < lemma, = in texture; anthers 3.
Etymology: (Latin: feather or plume + bristle, conspicuous bristles subtending spikelets) Note: Separation of Pennisetum from Cenchrus remains unsettled. Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. Br., Pennisetum latifolium Spreng., Pennisetum macrourum Trin., Pennisetum nervosum (Nees) Trin., Pennisetum purpureum Schumach. have been collected in California, but none has become naturalized. Some species cultivated for ornament, food (pearl millet), fodder, fiber for paper-making; others are aggressive weeds.
eFlora Treatment Author: James P. Smith, Jr.
Reference: Wipff 2003 FNANM 25:517--529