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dune sandbur, sanddune sandbur

burgrass, common sandbur, field sandbur, konpeito-gusa, sandburr, se mbulabula, southern sandbur, vao tui tui

Habit Plants annual. Plants annual.
Culms

10-70 cm, decumbent, branching and rooting at the lower nodes.

20-100 cm, ascending from a geniculate base.

Sheaths

compressed, glabrous or pubescent;

ligules 1-2.1 mm;

blades 2-14 cm long, 3-14.2 mm wide.

from shorter than to equaling the internodes, compressed;

ligules 0.7-1.7 mm;

blades 4-18(35) cm long, 2-10(14.2) mm wide, adaxial surfaces sparsely pilose, hairs papillose-based.

Panicles

2-8.2 cm;

fascicles 9-16 mm long, 4-8 mm wide, imbricate, ovoid, densely pubescent;

bristles 15-43;

outer bristles usually present, flattened or terete;

inner bristles 4-8 mm long, 1.2-3 mm wide, fused for at least 1/2 their length, forming a distinct cupule, the distal portions diverging at irregular intervals from the cupule, stramineous or purple.

2.5-12 cm;

rachis internodes 2-4 mm;

fascicles 5-10 mm long, 3.5-6(6.3) mm wide, imbricate;

outer bristles 10-20, terete, the majority no more than 1/2 as long as the inner bristles;

inner bristles 2-5 mm long, 0.6-1.5 mm wide, flattened, not grooved, mostly erect, fused for at least 1/2 their length into a globose cupule, sometimes interlocking at maturity, shortly pubescent, often purple at maturity.

Spikelets

1(2) per fascicle, 6-8.8 mm.

2-3(4) per fascicle, 4.8-7 mm.

Lower glumes

1-4 mm;

upper glumes 4.9-6.8 mm, 3-7-veined;

lower lemmas 5.5-7.5 mm, 3-7-veined, enclosing the palea;

upper lemmas 6-8.7 mm;

anthers 0.8-2.8 mm.

1.3-3.4 mm;

upper glumes 3.8-5.7 mm, 3-7-veined;

lower lemmas 4.5-6.5 mm;

upper florets 4.7-7 mm;

anthers 0.8-2.4 mm.

Caryopses

2.6-4 mm long, 2.2-3.1 mm wide, ovoid-elliptic.

ovoid, 1.2-3.2 mm long, 1.3-2.2 mm wide.

2n

= 34.

= (34), 68.

Cenchrus tribuloides

Cenchrus echinatus

Distribution
from FNA
AL; CT; DE; FL; GA; LA; MA; MD; ME; MS; NC; NJ; NY; PA; SC; VA; VT; HI
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AL; AZ; CA; DC; FL; GA; LA; MD; MS; NC; NM; OK; SC; TX; VA; HI; PR; Virgin Islands
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Cenchrus tribuloides grows in moist, sandy dunes and is restricted to the eastern United States. It differs from C. spinifex in its larger spikelets and smaller number of spikelets per fascicle, and from C. longispinus in its densely pubescent fascicles, fewer bristles, and wider inner bristles.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Cenchrus echinatus grows in disturbed areas throughout the coastal plain and piedmont of the southern United States, Mexico, Central and South America, and, as an unwelcome introduction, elsewhere.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Source FNA vol. 25, p. 534. FNA vol. 25, p. 531.
Parent taxa Poaceae > subfam. Panicoideae > tribe Paniceae > Cenchrus Poaceae > subfam. Panicoideae > tribe Paniceae > Cenchrus
Sibling taxa
C. biflorus, C. brownii, C. echinatus, C. gracillimus, C. longispinus, C. myosuroides, C. spinifex
C. biflorus, C. brownii, C. gracillimus, C. longispinus, C. myosuroides, C. spinifex, C. tribuloides
Synonyms C. echinatus var. hillebrandianus
Name authority L. L.
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