Eragrostis frankii
Eragrostis scaligera
sandbar lovegrass, éragrostide de Frank
tender lovegrass
10-50 cm, erect to geniculate, glabrous, often with glandular pits below the nodes.
25-75 cm, erect, glabrous below the nodes.
mostly glabrous, apices hirsute, hairs to 4 mm, often also with glandular pits;
ligules 0.2-0.5 mm, ciliate;
blades (2)4-10(21) cm long, 1-4 mm wide, flat to involute, glabrous abaxially, scabridu-lous adaxially.
glabrous or with hairy apices, hairs to 4 mm;
ligules 0.1-0.3 mm, ciliate;
blades 4-8(18) cm long, 1-2 mm wide, involute, frequently deciduous, adaxial surfaces mostly glabrous, sometimes pilose near the base.
4-20 cm long, less than 1/2 the height of the plants, 2-10(14) cm wide, narrowly elliptic, open;
primary branches 2-6 cm, compact, diverging 20-70° from the rachises, capillary, sometimes with glandular pits, naked basally;
pulvini glabrous;
pedicels 1.5-5 mm, divergent.
terminal and axillary;
terminal panicles 5-15 cm long, (1)2-10(12) cm wide, narrowly ovate, open;
axillary panicles 2-5 cm long, 0.3-0.6 cm wide, usually contracted and partially to completely enclosed by the subtending sheath;
primary branches 1-10 cm, appressed or diverging up to 90° from the rachises, wiry;
pulvini glabrous or hairy;
pedicels 0.3-5 mm, appressed, flattened.
(1.7)2-4(5.6) mm long, 1-2(2.5) mm wide, broadly ovate to lanceolate, plumbeous to reddish-purple, with 3-6 florets;
disarticulation acropetal, paleas persistent.
6-15(27) mm long, 1.6-2.4 mm wide, ovate-lanceolate, plumbeous to greenish, often with a reddish-purple tinge, with 10-35(45) florets;
disarticulation acropetal, glumes first, then the lemmas, paleas persistent.
narrowly lanceolate to lanceolate, hyaline;
lower glumes 1-1.5 mm;
upper glumes 1-1.8 mm;
lemmas 1.1-1.6 mm, broadly ovate, membranous, lateral veins inconspicuous, apices acute;
paleas 1-1.5 mm, hyaline, keels scabridulous, apices obtuse;
anthers 2 or 3, 0.2-0.3 mm, purplish.
lanceolate to ovate, membranous;
lower glumes 1.4-2.1 mm;
upper glumes 1.6-2.2 mm;
lemmas (1.7)2-2.5 mm, broadly ovate, leathery, apices acute to acuminate;
paleas 1.1-1.7 mm, hyaline, apices obtuse to truncate;
anthers 2, 0.3-0.7 mm, reddish-purple.
0.4-0.7 mm, ovoid to rectangular-prismatic, striate, reddish-brown, adaxial surfaces flat or shallowly grooved, distal 2/3 opaque.
0.5-0.6 mm, globose, not grooved, smooth, light reddish-brown.
= 40, 80.
= 40.
Eragrostis frankii
Eragrostis scaligera
Eragrostis frankii is native in the central and eastern United States, but it has been found, as an introduction, in southern Ontario, and appears to be increasingly common in the northeastern United States. It grows in moist meadows, along streams and sand bars, in forest openings, and along roadsides, at 5-1500 m, usually in association with Pinus, Quercus, Acer, and Fagus grandiflora. The record from Santa Fe County, New Mexico, is based on a specimen collected by Fendler in 1847; there are no other collections from the state. Fendler's specimens seem to represent either an accidental introduction that did not become established or a labeling error.
Eragrostis frankii is similar to E. capillaris, but differs in its frequent possession of glandular pits, its flat or more shallowly grooved caryopses, shorter pedicels, and glabrous sheath margins, and in having panicles that are usually less than half as long as the culms.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Eragrostis scaligera is known from Lee and Collier counties, Florida, where it grows in sandy areas in the coastal scrub zone and along adjacent roadsides, at 0-10 m. It is native to French Guiana and Brazil.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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