Eragrostis bahiensis
Eragrostis superba
bahia lovegrass
sawtooth lovegrass, Wilman lovegrass
25-95(110) cm, erect, glabrous.
45-95 cm, erect, glabrous.
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.
hairy at the apices and on the margins, hairs to 6 mm;
ligules 0.5-1.2 mm;
blades 7-30 cm long, 2.5-7 mm wide, flat to loosely involute, glabrous abaxially, scabrous adaxially, margins sharply scabrous.
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.
10-30 cm long, 1-6 cm wide, oblong, condensed, interrupted below;
primary branches 1-11 cm, appressed or diverging to 40° from the rachises, naked basally;
pulvini glabrous;
pedicels 0.5-25 mm, with a narrow band or abscission line below the apices.
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.
5.5-16 mm long, 2.7-9 mm wide, ovate, flattened, greenish to stramineous, sometimes with a reddish-purple tinge, with 4-22 florets;
disarticulation below the glumes, spikelets falling intact.
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.
equal, 3-4.5 mm, ovate, chartaceous;
lemmas 3-5 mm, broadly lanceolate, chartaceous to leathery, lateral veins green, apices acute;
paleas 3-5 mm, chartaceous to hyaline, keels broadly winged below, forming a wing or tooth on each side that often projects beyond the lemma bases, apices acuminate;
anthers 3, 1.4-2.8 mm, golden-yellow.
0.6-0.8 mm, obovoid to ellipsoid, terete, somewhat striate, reddish-brown.
1-2 mm, ellipsoid, adaxial surfaces flattened, reddish-brown.
= unknown.
= 40.
Eragrostis bahiensis
Eragrostis superba
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 superba is native to Africa, where it is grown for hay, being fairly palatable and drought resistant. It is also used for erosion control and revegetation. In the Flora region, it grows on rocky slopes, in sandy flats, and along roadsides, at 480-1650 m, often with Acacia, Prosopsis, Fouquieria splendens, Juniperus, and Quercus. The English name is an appropriate description of the leaf blades.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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