Eragrostis intermedia
Eragrostis scaligera
plains lovegrass
tender lovegrass
(30)40-90(110) cm, erect, glabrous below the nodes.
25-75 cm, erect, glabrous below the nodes.
sparsely pilose on the margins, apices hairy, hairs to 8 mm, not papillose-based;
ligules 0.2-0.4 mm;
blades (4)10-20(30) cm long, 1-3 mm wide, flat or involute, abaxial surfaces glabrous, adaxial surfaces densely hairy behind the ligules, elsewhere usually glabrous, occasionally sparsely hairy.
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.
15-40 cm long, (8.5)15-30 cm wide, ovate, open;
primary branches 4-25 cm, diverging 20-90° from the rachises, capillary;
pulvini hairy or glabrous;
pedicels 2-14 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.
3-7 mm long, 1-1.8 mm wide, narrowly lanceolate, olivaceous to purplish, with (3)5-11 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.
lanceolate to ovate, hyaline to membranous;
lower glumes 1.1-1.7 mm, narrower than the upper glumes;
upper glumes 1.3-2 mm, apices acuminate to acute;
lemmas 1.6-2.2 mm, ovate, membranous, hyaline near the margins, lateral veins inconspicuous, apices acute;
paleas 1.4-2.1 mm, hyaline, narrower than the lemmas, apices obtuse to acute;
anthers 3, 0.5-0.8 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.
0.5-0.9 mm, rectangular-prismatic, somewhat laterally compressed, with a well-developed adaxial groove, striate, opaque, reddish-brown.
0.5-0.6 mm, globose, not grooved, smooth, light reddish-brown.
= ca. 54, 60, 72, ca. 74, 80, 100, 120.
= 40.
Eragrostis intermedia
Eragrostis scaligera
Eragrostis intermedia grows in clay, sandy, and rocky soils, often in disturbed sites, at 0-1850 m. Its range extends from the United States through Mexico and Central America to South America. Eragrostis intermedia is similar to the more widespread E. lugens, but differs from that species in having wider spikelets, longer lemmas, and caryopses with a prominent adaxial groove.
(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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