Eragrostis ciliaris
Eragrostis palmeri
gophertail lovegrass
Rio Grande lovegrass
(3)9-75 cm, erect or geniculate in the lower portion, not rooting at the lower nodes, glabrous.
50-90(120) cm, 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.
villous and the hairs not papillose-based, or mostly glabrous, apices hairy, hairs to 5 mm, not papillose-based;
ligules 0.2-0.4 mm;
blades (14)20-35 cm long, 1-2.4 mm wide, involute, abaxial surfaces glabrous, adaxial surfaces scabridulous, sometimes sparsely hairy.
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.
12-40 cm long, 4-20 cm wide, oblong, open;
primary branches 2-20 cm, diverging 20-70° from the rachises, capillary;
pulvini glabrous or sparsely hairy;
pedicels (0.4)1-4(14) mm, appressed or diverging, only the terminal pedicels on each branch longer than 4 mm.
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.
4-6(7.3) mm long, 1-2 mm wide, linear-lanceolate, plumbeous, with 5-12 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 to ovate, hyaline;
lower glumes 1.1-1.8 mm;
upper glumes 1.2-2.2 mm, exceeded by the basal lemmas;
lemmas 2-2.6 mm, ovate, membranous, hyaline towards the apices and margins, keels weak or strong, without glands, lateral veins from inconspicuous to conspicuous, apices acute;
paleas 1.7-2.4 mm, hyaline, bases not projecting beyond the lemmas, apices truncate, often notched;
anthers 3, 0.6-1.3 mm, yellowish to purplish.
0.4-0.5 mm, ovoid, reddish-brown.
0.6-0.8 mm, rectangular-prismatic to subellipsoid, laterally compressed, with a well-developed adaxial groove, faintly striate, opaque, reddish-brown.
= 20, 40.
= 40.
Eragrostis ciliaris
Eragrostis palmeri
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 palmeri grows on rocky slopes and hills between 300-2150 m, generally in association with Pinus edulis, Juniperus monosperma, Bouteloua gracilis, and Prosopis. Its range extends from the southwestern United States into Mexico. It resembles E. erosa, but differs in its shorter lemmas and caryopses.
(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 |
LA Plants
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