Flora of North America species comparison

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Eragrostis airoides

Eragrostis cylindriflora

darnel lovegrass

cylinderflower lovegrass
Habit Plants perennial; cespitose, with innovations, without rhizomes, not glandular. Plants annual; cespitose, without innovations.
Culms

30-110 cm, erect, glabrous below the nodes.

20-70 cm, erect or decumbent, with a ring of glands below the nodes, glabrous.
Sheaths

glabrous or pilose, hairs to 5 mm;

ligules 0.1-0.2 mm;

blades 8-22 mm long, (1)2-4(5) mm wide, flat to folded, glabrous abaxially, scabridulous adaxially.

often with oblong glands below the collar, usually glabrous, rarely pilose, hairs to 1.5 mm, papillose-based, sometimes both glandular and with papillose-based hairs;

ligules 0.4-0.6 mm;

blades 3-15 cm long, 2-4 mm wide, flat to involute, abaxial surfaces glabrous or hairy, hairs to 3 mm, papillose-based.
Panicles

18-70 cm long, 3-25 cm wide, diffuse, ovate;

primary branches 4-20 cm, appressed or diverging 10-70° from the rachises, naked basally;

pulvini glabrous;

pedicels 2.4-11 mm, divergent.

5-22 cm long, 2.6-10 cm wide, open, oblong, usually diffuse;

primary branches 2-9 cm, appressed or diverging to 80° from the rachises, lowest branches whorled, naked below;

pulvini glabrous or scattered pilose;

pedicels 0.8-7 mm, divergent.
Spikelets

1.3-2 mm long, 0.8-1.8 mm wide, ovate to lanceolate, plumbeous, with 1-3 florets;

disarticulation acropetal, in the rachilla below the florets, glumes deciduous;

rachilla prolonged above the terminal floret.

2-7 mm long, 1-1.5 mm wide, oblong, plumbeous to greenish-gray, with 3-14 florets;

disarticulation acropetal, paleas persistent.
Glumes

lanceolate to ovate, membranous;

lower glumes 0.8-1 mm;

upper glumes 1.1-1.4 mm;

lemmas 0.8-1.2 mm, ovate, membranous, plumbeous, keels and lateral veins inconspicuous, apices obtuse;

paleas 0.8-1.2 mm, membranous, bases not projecting beyond the lemmas, apices obtuse;

anthers 3, 0.3-0.5 mm, purplish.

subequal, 1.4-2 mm, narrowly ovate, hyaline;

lemmas 1.4-1.7 mm, ovate, membranous, lateral veins inconspicuous, apices obtuse to acute;

paleas 1.2-1.6 mm, hyaline, keels scabridulous, apices obtuse;

anthers 3, 0.7-1 mm, yellowish.
Caryopses

0.4-0.5 mm, ovoid, reticulate, reddish-brown.

0.5-1.1 mm, ellipsoid to obovoid, dorsally compressed, with a shallow, broad adaxial groove, smooth, mostly translucent, mostly light brown, bases greenish.
Comm

.).

2n

= 36 (Davidse, pers.

= unknown.

Eragrostis airoides

Eragrostis cylindriflora
Distribution
from FNA
TX
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
MD
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Eragrostis airoides is a South American species that, in the Flora region, is known only from roadsides and disturbed sites in Brazos County, Texas. It is an enigmatic species, often treated as Sporobolus brasiliensis (Raddi) Hack., which it resembles in its chromosome base number of x = 9 and caryopsis morphology, but its frequent possession of spikelets with more than 1 floret and its mode of spikelet disarticulation argue for its retention in Eragrostis.

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

Eragrostis cylindriflora is native to Africa. It is not established in the Flora region, but has been collected from a disturbed site in Canton, Maryland.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 25, p. 103. FNA vol. 25, p. 74.
Parent taxa Poaceae > subfam. Chloridoideae > tribe Cynodonteae > Eragrostis Poaceae > subfam. Chloridoideae > tribe Cynodonteae > Eragrostis
Sibling taxa
E. amabilis, E. atrovirens, E. bahiensis, E. barrelieri, E. capillaris, E. cilianensis, E. ciliaris, E. cumingii, E. curtipedicellata, E. curvula, E. cylindriflora, E. echinochloidea, E. elliottii, E. elongata, E. erosa, E. frankii, E. gangetica, E. hirsuta, E. hypnoides, E. intermedia, E. japonica, E. lehmanniana, E. lugens, E. lutescens, E. mexicana, E. minor, E. obtusiflora, E. palmeri, E. pectinacea, E. pilosa, E. plana, E. polytricha, E. prolifera, E. refracta, E. reptans, E. scaligera, E. secundiflora, E. sessilispica, E. setifolia, E. silveana, E. spectabilis, E. spicata, E. superba, E. swallenii, E. tef, E. trichodes, E. trichophora, E. unioloides
E. airoides, E. amabilis, E. atrovirens, E. bahiensis, E. barrelieri, E. capillaris, E. cilianensis, E. ciliaris, E. cumingii, E. curtipedicellata, E. curvula, E. echinochloidea, E. elliottii, E. elongata, E. erosa, E. frankii, E. gangetica, E. hirsuta, E. hypnoides, E. intermedia, E. japonica, E. lehmanniana, E. lugens, E. lutescens, E. mexicana, E. minor, E. obtusiflora, E. palmeri, E. pectinacea, E. pilosa, E. plana, E. polytricha, E. prolifera, E. refracta, E. reptans, E. scaligera, E. secundiflora, E. sessilispica, E. setifolia, E. silveana, E. spectabilis, E. spicata, E. superba, E. swallenii, E. tef, E. trichodes, E. trichophora, E. unioloides
Synonyms E. horizontalis
Name authority Nees Hochst.
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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