Eragrostis lehmanniana |
Eragrostis lugens |
|
---|---|---|
Lehmann lovegrass, Lehmann's love grass |
mourning lovegrass |
|
Habit | Plants perennial; cespitose, forming innovations at the basal nodes, without glands. | Plants perennial; cespitose, with innovations, without rhizomes, not glandular. |
Culms | (20)40-80 cm, erect, commonly geniculate, sometimes rooting at the lower nodes, glabrous, lower portions sometimes scabridulous. |
30-70 cm, erect, sometimes geniculate, glabrous below the nodes. |
Sheaths | sometimes shortly silky pilose basally, hairs less than 2 mm, apices sparsely hairy, hairs to 3 mm; ligules 0.3-0.5 mm, ciliate; blades 2-12 cm long, 1-3 mm wide, flat to involute, glabrous, abaxial surfaces sometimes scabridulous, adaxial surfaces scabridulous. |
usually mostly glabrous, summits hairy, hairs 2-5 mm, never papillose-based; ligules 0.2-0.3 mm; blades (4)8-22 cm long, 1-3.5 mm wide, involute to flat, both surfaces glabrous, margins sometimes with scattered hairs, hairs to 7 mm. |
Panicles | 7-18 cm long, 2-8 cm wide, oblong, open; primary branches 1-8 cm, appressed or diverging to 40° from the rachises; pulvini glabrous; pedicels 0.5-4 mm, diverging or appressed, flexible. |
16-28 cm long, 10-21 cm wide, ovate, open; primary branches 0.6-15 cm, diverging up to 100° from the rachises, naked basally; pulvini hairy; pedicels 1.4-5(7) mm, diverging, wiry, present on all spikelets. |
Spikelets | 5-12(14) mm long, 0.8-1.2 mm wide, linear-lanceolate, plumbeous to stramineous, with 4-12(14) florets; disarticulation irregular to basipetal, paleas usually persistent. |
2-4.5(5) mm long, 0.5-1(1.3) mm wide, narrowly lanceolate, plumbeous to reddish-purple, with 2-7 florets; disarticulation acropetal, paleas persistent. |
Glumes | oblong to lanceolate, membranous; lower glumes 1-1.5 mm; upper glumes 1.3-2 mm; lemmas 1.5-1.7 mm, ovate, membranous, lateral veins inconspicuous, apices acute to obtuse; paleas 1.4-1.7 mm, obtuse; anthers 3, 0.6-0.9 mm, yellowish. |
broadly ovate to narrowly lanceolate, hyaline, sometimes reddish-purple; lower glumes 0.6-1 mm; upper glumes 1.1-1.4 mm, usually broader than the lower glumes; lemmas 1.2-1.8 mm, broadly ovate, mostly membranous but the distal margins hyaline, lateral veins inconspicuous, apices acute; paleas 1.1-1.7 mm, membranous to hyaline, apices obtuse; anthers 3, 0.2-0.7 mm, reddish-purple. |
Caryopses | 0.6-0.8 mm, ellipsoid to obovoid, dorsally compressed, sometimes with a shallow adaxial groove, smooth, translucent, mostly light brown, embryo region dark brown with a greenish ring. |
0.5-0.6 mm, obovoid to somewhat prism-shaped, terete to somewhat laterally compressed, sometimes with a weak adaxial groove, finely striate, usually opaque, faintly reddish-brown to whitish. |
2n | = 40, 60. |
= 40, 80, ca. 108. |
Eragrostis lehmanniana |
Eragrostis lugens |
|
Distribution |
AZ; CA; NM; OK; TX; UT
|
AL; AR; FL; GA; LA; MO; MS; NC; OK; SC; TN; TX |
Discussion | Eragrostis lehmanniana is native to southern Africa, where it grows in sandy, savannah habitats. It was introduced for erosion control in the southern United States, where it often displaces native species. In the Flora region, it grows in sandy flats, along roadsides, on calcareous slopes, and in disturbed areas, at 200-1830 m. It is commonly found in association with Larrea tridentata, Opuntia, Quercus, Juniperus, and Bouteloua gracilis. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Eragrostis lugens grows on sandy dunes and along river banks, at 1-300 m. Its range extends from the southern United States to Peru and Argentina. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 25, p. 76. | FNA vol. 25, p. 95. |
Parent taxa | Poaceae > subfam. Chloridoideae > tribe Cynodonteae > Eragrostis | Poaceae > subfam. Chloridoideae > tribe Cynodonteae > Eragrostis |
Sibling taxa | ||
Name authority | Nees | Nees |
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