Eragrostis ciliaris
Eragrostis hirsuta
gophertail lovegrass
bigtop lovegrass
(3)9-75 cm, erect or geniculate in the lower portion, not rooting at the lower nodes, glabrous.
(30)45-100 cm, erect, glabrous below the nodes.
hairy on the margins and at the apices, hairs to 4 mm;
ligules 0.2-0.5 mm;
blades 1.8-12(15) cm long, 2-5 mm wide, usually flat, occasionally involute, glabrous or ciliate basally.
rarely glabrous, apices and distal margins usually hairy, sometimes also densely hairy basally, dorsally, and on the collars, hairs to 6 mm, papillose-based;
ligules 0.2-0.4 mm;
blades 25-60 cm long, 3-8(11) mm wide, flat to loosely involute, usually glabrous, adaxial surfaces sometimes hairy basally.
1.7-15 cm long, 0.2-5 cm wide, cylindrical, contracted or open, branches usually forming glomerate lobes, sometimes more open, often interrupted in the lower portion;
primary branches 0.4-4 cm, appressed or diverging to 50° from the rachises;
pulvini usually glabrous, occasionally sparsely pilose;
pedicels 0.1-1 mm, erect, shorter than the spikelets, glabrous.
25-85 cm long, 15-40 cm wide, broadly ovate, open;
primary branches mostly 4-35(45) cm, diverging 20-90° from the rachises, capillary;
pulvini glabrous or hairy;
pedicels 2-28 mm, divergent.
1.8-3.2 mm long, 1-2 mm wide, elliptical-ovate to ovate-lanceolate, yellowish-brown, sometimes with a purple tinge, with 6-11 florets;
disarticulation basipetal, glumes peristent.
2-4(5) mm long, 1-1.7 mm wide, lanceolate, greenish with purplish tinges, with 2-6 florets;
disarticulation acropetal, paleas persistent.
ovate to lanceolate, keels scabridulous, veins commonly green, apices acute;
lower glumes 0.7-1.2 mm;
upper glumes 1-1.6 mm;
lemmas 0.8-1.3 mm, elliptical-ovate to lanceolate, membranous, keels scabridulous, lateral veins evident, apices obtuse to acute;
paleas 0.8-1.3 mm, membranous, keels prominently ciliate, cilia 0.2-0.8 mm, apices obtuse to acute;
anthers 2, 0.1-0.3 mm, purplish.
lanceolate, hyaline to membranous;
lower glumes 1.1-2 mm;
upper glumes 1.5-2.8 mm, apices acuminate to acute;
lemmas 1.6-2.4 mm, ovate, membranous, hyaline near the margins, lateral veins inconspicuous, apices acute;
paleas 1.2-2.2 mm, hyaline, bases not projecting beyond the lemmas, apices acute to obtuse;
anthers 3, 0.3-0.8 mm, purplish.
0.4-0.5 mm, ovoid, reddish-brown.
0.8-1 mm, rectangular-prismatic, somewhat laterally compressed, with or without a well-developed adaxial groove, striate, opaque, reddish-brown.
= 20, 40.
= 100.
Eragrostis ciliaris
Eragrostis hirsuta
Eragrostis ciliaris is native to the paleotropics. It is naturalized in parts of the United States, growing along roadsides, on waste sites, in xerothermic vegetation, and sometimes in saline habitats, at 0-200 m. It may be more widespread than indicated.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Eragrostis hirsuta grows in sandy clay loams on the coastal plain and along roadsides, at 0-150 m, usually in association with Pinus palustris and Quercus. Its range extends from the southeastern United States through eastern Mexico to Guatemala and Belize.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
1. Panicles 0.2-1.5 cm wide, contracted, the branches mostly appressed to the rachises, congested, forming glomerate lobes; spikelets densely packed | var. ciliaris |
1. Panicles 1.5-5 cm wide, open, the branches spreading 20-50° from the rachises; spikelets widely separated from each other | var. laxa |
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