Flora of North America species comparison

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Eragrostis bahiensis

Eragrostis spicata

bahia lovegrass

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

25-95(110) cm, erect, glabrous.

75-100 cm, erect, glabrous.
Sheaths

glabrous, summits hairy, hairs 1-3 mm;

ligules 0.2-0.4 mm;

blades (8)12-40 cm long, 2-5 mm wide, flat to involute, abaxial surfaces glabrous, adaxial surfaces scabridulous and glabrous or long ciliate basally.

hirtellous on the margins when immature, apices glabrous or hairy shorter than 0.5 mm;

ligules 0.2-0.3 mm;

blades 20-40 cm long, 2-5(6) mm wide, flat to involute, glabrous abaxially, scabrous adaxially.
Panicles

terminal, 15-30(45) cm long, (4)8-17 cm wide, narrowly ovate, open to contracted;

primary branches 5-15 cm, diverging 20-90° from the rachises, often capillary, usually naked basally;

pulvini glabrous;

pedicels 0.3-6 mm, mostly appressed, scabridulous, always shorter than the spikelets.

22-40 cm long, 0.3-0.6 cm wide, spikelike, dense;

primary branches shorter than 1.2 cm, closely appressed, spikelet-bearing to the base;

pulvini glabrous;

pedicels 0.1-0.6 mm, mostly appressed, hirtellous.
Spikelets

6-15(18) mm long, 1.3-2(2.2) mm wide, narrowly lanceolate, plumbeous, occasionally with a reddish-purple tinge, with 8-30(40) florets;

disarticulation usually in the rachilla below the florets, occasionally the lemmas falling separately, leaving the paleas on the rachilla.

1.4-2.2 mm long, 0.9-1.2 mm wide, ovate, stramineous to light greenish, with 2-3 florets;

disarticulation basipetal, in the rachilla below the individual florets or at the base of the florets, glumes persistent.
Glumes

lanceolate to ovate, membranous to subhyaline, keeled;

lower glumes 1-1.4 mm;

upper glumes 1.4-1.7 mm;

lemmas 1.5-2.2 mm, broadly ovate, leathery, scabridulous, lateral veins evident, apices acute;

paleas 1.4-2.1 mm, hyaline, bases not projecting beyond the lemmas, keels scabridulous, apices acute to obtuse;

anthers 2, 0.4-0.6 mm, reddish-purple.

elliptic to ovate, hyaline, keels ciliolate;

lower glumes 0.7-1 mm;

upper glumes 0.9-1.3 mm, apices obtuse;

lemmas 1.5-2.1 mm, ovate, membranous to hyaline, apices acute to obtuse;

paleas 1.1-1.6 mm, hyaline, not wider than the lemmas, apices obtuse;

anthers 2, 0.3-0.4 mm, reddish-brown.
Caryopses

0.6-0.8 mm, obovoid to ellipsoid, terete, somewhat striate, reddish-brown.

0.7-1 mm, ellipsoid, somewhat ventrally flattened, smooth to faintly striate, reddish-brown.
2n

= unknown.

= 40.

Eragrostis bahiensis

Eragrostis spicata
Distribution
from FNA
AL; FL; GA; LA; NJ; SC
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
TX
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Eragrostis bahiensis grows in sandy soils near river banks, lake shores, and roadsides, at 0-200 m. Its range extends south from the Gulf Coast of the United States through Mexico to Peru, Bolivia, Paraguay, and Argentina.

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

Eragrostis spicata grows in moist areas in prairies, usually in deep, sandy, clay loam soils, at 0-70 m. It is native from southern Texas to Mexico and in Paraguay and Argentina. In North America, it grows with Andropogon, Quercus stellata, Prosopsis glandulosa, and Acacia.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 25, p. 101. FNA vol. 25.
Parent taxa Poaceae > subfam. Chloridoideae > tribe Cynodonteae > Eragrostis Poaceae > subfam. Chloridoideae > tribe Cynodonteae > Eragrostis
Sibling taxa
E. airoides, E. amabilis, E. atrovirens, 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. superba, E. swallenii, E. tef, E. trichodes, E. trichophora, E. unioloides
Name authority (Schrad.) Schult. Vasey
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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