Eleusine
Eleusine tristachya
goosegrass
eleusine tristachya, three-spike goose grass
10-150 cm, herbaceous, glabrous, branching both at and above the base.
10-45 cm, compressed.
open;
ligules membranous, ciliate.
6-25 cm long.
digitate, with (1)2-3 branches;
branches 1-6(8) cm long, 5-14 mm wide, oblong.
terminal, panicles of (1)2-20 non-disarticulating, spikelike branches, exceeding the upper leaves;
branches 1-17 cm, all or most in a digitate cluster, sometimes 1(2) branch(es) attached immediately below the terminal whorl, axes flattened, terminating in a functional spikelet.
3.5-11 mm, laterally compressed, with 2-15 bisexual florets;
disarticulation above the glumes and between the florets (E. coracana not disarticulating).
8-10 mm, with 5-9(11) florets.
unequal, shorter than the lower lemmas;
lower glumes 1-3-veined;
upper glumes 3-5(7)-veined;
lemmas 3-veined, glabrous, keeled, apices entire, neither mucronate nor awned;
paleas sometimes with winged keels;
anthers 3, 0.5-1 mm;
ovaries glabrous.
unequal;
lower glumes 2-3 mm;
upper glumes 3-4 mm;
lemmas 4-5 mm.
modified caryopses, pericarp thin, separating from the seed at an early stage in its development;
seeds usually obtusely trigonous, the surfaces ornamented, x = 8, 9, 10.
= 18.
Eleusine
Eleusine tristachya
Eight of the nine species of Eleusine ate native to Africa, where they grow in mesic to xeric habitats; the exception, E. tristachya, is native to South America. Three species have become established in the Flora region. When moistened, the seeds of all species are easily freed from the thin pericarp.
Eleusine coracana subsp. africana, E. indica, and E. tristachya are widely distributed weeds. Eleusine coracana subsp. coracana was domesticated in East Africa and subsequently introduced to India and China. It is frequently grown for grain in India and Africa.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
In the 1800s and early 1900s, Eleusine tristachya was found on ballast dumps at various ports and transportation centers in the United States. It has since been found as a weed in the Imperial Valley of California (Hilu 1980), but records of collections outside of California appear to be historical, with no populations persisting. The species was originally thought to be native to tropical Africa and introduced into tropical America, but it occurs in Africa only as a rare adventive. It is now considered to be native to tropical America.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
1. Panicles with 1-3 oblong branches 1-6(8) cm long, attached in a single digitate cluster | E. tristachya |
1. Panicles with 4-20 linear branches 3.5-17 cm long, 1(2) of the branches attached below the terminal, digitate cluster. | → 2 |
2. Lower glumes 1-veined; panicle branches 3-5.5 mm wide; surface of the seeds striate | E. indica |
2. Lower glumes 2- or 3-veined; panicle branches 5-15 mm wide; surface of the seeds granular | E. coracana |
- Local floras:
CA, 
OR, 
WA - Local Web sites: CalFlora, CalPhotos,
Flora NW, 
IL Wildflowers, 
KS Wildflowers, 
LA Plants, 
MD Biodiversity, 
MI Flora, 
MN Wildflowers, 
MO Plants, 
PNW Herbaria 
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist (observations)
USDA Plants Database- LBJ Wildflower Center
- SEINet
- Plants of the World Online
- Encyclopedia of Life
- Wikipedia
- Google Image Search
- Local floras: CA, OR, WA
- Local Web sites: CalFlora, CalPhotos, Flora NW, MO Plants, PNW Herbaria
- WildflowerSearch
- iNaturalist (observations)
- USDA Plants Database
- LBJ Wildflower Center
- SEINet
- Plants of the World Online
- Encyclopedia of Life
- Wikipedia
- Google Image Search
