Flora of North America species comparison

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Eragrostis airoides

Eragrostis trichophora

darnel lovegrass

hairyflower lovegrass
Habit Plants perennial; cespitose, with innovations, without rhizomes, not glandular. Plants perennial; cespitose, stoloniferous, forming innovations near the base.
Culms

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

30-70 cm, erect, geniculate, or prostrate, often rooting at the lower nodes, glabrous, with a ring of glands below the nodes.
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.

glabrous or with scattered papillose-based hairs over most of the surface, apices pilose, hairs 1-4 mm, a ring of oblong glands sometimes present below the collar;

ligules 0.2-0.5 mm;

blades 1.4-10 cm long, 2-3 mm wide, flat to involute, sparsely hairy with papillose-based hairs, abaxial surfaces often with glandular dots.
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.

5-20 cm long, 2-7 cm wide, narrowly ovate, open;

primary branches 2-7 cm, diverging 10-70° from the rachises, lowest branches whorled, naked proximally, bases with a glandular band;

pulvini hairy;

pedicels 0.3-3.3 mm, glandular.
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.

4-5.4 mm long, 1-1.5 mm wide, linear-lanceolate, plumbeous to greenish-gray, with 3-5 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, 1.4-1.8 mm, ovate-lanceolate, membranous;

lemmas 1.5-1.8 mm, ovate, membranous, often hyaline, lateral veins inconspicuous, apices obtuse to acute;

paleas 1.3-1.7 mm, hyaline, bases not projecting beyond the lemmas, apices obtuse;

anthers 3, 0.7-1 mm, purplish.
Caryopses

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

0.6-0.8 mm, ovoid, terete to dorsally compressed, shallowly grooved adaxially, translucent, mostly whitish to light brown, bases often greenish.
Comm

.).

2n

= 36 (Davidse, pers.

= unknown.

Eragrostis airoides

Eragrostis trichophora
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 trichophora is native to Africa, where it often grows in moist, disturbed or overgrazed sites. It has been collected from disturbed sites at Canton, Maryland.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 25, p. 103. FNA vol. 25, p. 76.
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. 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. unioloides
Synonyms E. atherstonei
Name authority Nees Coss. & Durieu
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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