Achnatherum diegoense
Achnatherum parishii
San Diego County needlegrass, San Diego needlegrass
Parish's needlegrass
110-140 cm tall, 2.5-4 mm thick, internodes densely and retrorsely pubescent for 3-9 mm below the nodes, particularly the lower nodes, glabrous or retrorsely puberulent elsewhere;
nodes 3, pubescent or glabrate.
14-80 cm tall, 0.8-2 mm thick, internodes glabrous or pubescent below the nodes;
nodes 3-5, glabrous.
21-25 cm long, (2)4-8 cm wide;
branches strongly divergent to ascending, straight, lower branches 5-7 cm.
7-15 cm long, 1.5-4 cm wide;
branches strongly ascending at maturity, longest branches 1.5-4 cm.
appressed to the branches.
subequal, 8-11.5 mm;
lower glumes 0.5-1 mm wide, 3-5-veined;
upper glumes 3-veined;
florets 5.5-7.5 mm long, 0.7-1 mm thick, fusiform, terete;
calluses 0.25-1.2 mm, acute;
lemmas evenly hairy, hairs at midlength and at the apices 0.5-1 mm, apical lobes 0.2-0.4 mm, membranous, flexible;
awns 20-50 mm, persistent, twice-geniculate, all segments scabrous to scabridulous, terminal segment straight;
paleas 2.6-3.8 mm, 1/2 - 3/4 as long as the lemmas, pubescent, hairs not extending beyond the apices, veins terminating below the apices, apices rounded;
anthers 2.5-4 mm, dehiscent, not penicillate.
unequal to subequal, narrowly lanceolate, 3-5-veined;
lower glumes 9-15 mm long, 0.9-1.2 mm wide;
upper glumes 8-15 mm;
florets 4.8-6.5 mm long, 0.8-1 mm thick, fusiform, terete;
calluses 0.2-0.8 mm, acute;
lemmas evenly and densely hairy, hairs 1.5-3.5 mm at midlength, apical hairs 2.5-5 mm;
awns 10-35 mm, persistent, once-geniculate, first segment scabrous or strigose, hairs to 0.3 mm, terminal segment straight;
paleas 2.5-4.5 mm, 1/2 - 4/5 times the length of the lemmas, hairy between the veins, hairs often as long as those on the lemmas but not as dense, apices usually rounded, occasionally somewhat pinched;
anthers 2.3-4.5 mm, dehiscent, not penicillate.
3-6 mm, fusiform.
sheaths mostly glabrous or puberulent, margins ciliate distally;
collars glabrous or with hairs, hairs mostly to 0.5 mm, sides with tufts of 1.5-2 mm hairs;
ligules 0.4-2 mm, rounded to acute, abaxial surfaces hairy, hairs to 0.5 mm;
upper ligules 1-3 mm, similar in structure and pubescence;
blades 1-3.5 mm wide, abaxial surfaces smooth or scabrous, adaxial surfaces prominently ribbed, hairy, hairs 2-3 mm.
sheaths mostly glabrous, sometimes pubescent at the base, flat and ribbonlike with age, margins sometimes hairy distally, hairs adjacent to the ligules 0.5-3 mm;
collars glabrous;
ligules truncate, abaxial surfaces pubescent, ciliate, cilia as long as or longer than the basal membrane, ligules of basal leaves 0.3-0.8 mm, of upper leaves 0.5-1.5 mm, asymmetric;
blades 4-30+ cm long, 1-4.2 mm wide, usually flat and more or less straight, sometimes tightly convolute and arcuate.
= unknown.
= unknown.
Achnatherum diegoense
Achnatherum parishii
Achnatherum diegoense grows in chaparral and coastal sage scrub, on rocky soil near streams or the coast, at 0-350 m, on the Channel Islands of Santa Barbara County, California, and, on the mainland, in Ventura and San Diego counties south into Baja California, Mexico.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Achnatherum parishii grows from the coastal ranges of California to Nevada and Utah, south to Baja California, Mexico, and to the Grand Canyon in Arizona. It differs from A. coronatum in its once-geniculate awns, more densely pubescent paleas, and generally smaller stature; from A. scribneri in its shorter, blunter calluses and more abundant lemma hairs; and from A. perplexum in having longer hairs on its lemmas.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
1. Basal sheath margins glabrous or hairy distaily, hairs to 0.5 mm long; culms 14-35 cm tall | subsp. depauperatum |
1. Basal sheath margins hairy distaily, hairs 1-3.2 mm long; culms 20-80 cm tall | subsp. parishii |
CA
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USDA Plants Database
