Eragrostis lehmanniana
Eragrostis spectabilis
Lehmann lovegrass, Lehmann's love grass
eragrostide brillante, purple love grass
(20)40-80 cm, erect, commonly geniculate, sometimes rooting at the lower nodes, glabrous, lower portions sometimes scabridulous.
30-70(85) cm, erect, glabrous.
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.
hairy on the margins and at the apices, hairs to 7 mm;
ligules 0.1-0.2 mm;
blades 10-32 cm long, 3-8 mm wide, flat to involute, both surfaces usually pilose, sometimes glabrous on both surfaces or glabrous abaxially and sparsely pilose adaxially, often with a line of hairs behind the ligules, hairs to 8 mm.
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.
(15)25-45(60) cm long, 15-35 cm wide, broadly ovate to oblong, open, basal portions sometimes included in the uppermost leaf sheaths;
primary branches (6)12-20 cm long, diverging 20-90° from the rachises, capillary, naked below;
pulvini hairy, hairs to 6 mm;
pedicels 1.5-17 mm, divergent or appressed.
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.
3-7.5 mm long, 1-2 mm wide, linear-lanceolate, reddish-purple, sometimes olivaceous, with (4)6-12 florets;
disarticulation basipetal, glumes persistent.
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.
subequal to equal, (1)1.3-2.3 mm, lanceolate, membranous to chartaceous;
lemmas (1)1.3-2.5 mm, ovate to lanceolate, leathery, 3-veined, apices acute;
paleas (1)1.2-2.4 mm, membranous, keels sometimes shortly ciliate, apices obtuse to truncate;
anthers 3, 0.3-0.5 mm, purplish.
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.
0.6-0.8 mm, ellipsoid, strongly flattened, adaxial surfaces with 2 prominent ridges separated by a groove, reddish-brown.
= 40, 60.
= 20, 40, 42.
Eragrostis lehmanniana
Eragrostis spectabilis
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 spectabilis is native in the eastern portion of the Flora region, extending from southern Canada through the United States, Mexico, and Central America to Belize. It grows in fields and on the margins of woods, along roadsides, and in other disturbed sites, usually in sandy to clay loam soils, at 0-1830 m, and is associated with hardwood forests, Prosopsis-Acacia grasslands, and shortgrass prairies. A showy species, E. spectabilis is available commercially for planting as an ornamental.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
CA
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
Go Botany
IL Wildflowers
KS Wildflowers
LA Plants
MD Biodiversity
MI Flora
MN Wildflowers
MO Plants
