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mourning lovegrass

Elliott's lovegrass, field lovegrass

Habit Plants perennial; cespitose, with innovations, without rhizomes, not glandular. Plants perennial; cespitose, with innovations, without rhizomes, not glandular.
Culms

30-70 cm, erect, sometimes geniculate, glabrous below the nodes.

25-80 cm, erect, glabrous and shiny below the basal nodes.

Sheaths

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.

sparsely hairy at the apices, hairs to 6 mm;

ligules 0.2-0.4 mm;

blades 6-30(52) cm long, 2-4.5 mm wide, flat, abaxial surfaces glabrous, adaxial surfaces scabridulous, sometimes with a few scattered hairs near the base.

Panicles

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.

(25)30-60 cm long, 15—45 cm wide, broadly ovate to obovate, open, diffuse;

primary branches mostly 5-25(32) cm, diverging 20-90° from the rachises, capillary;

pulvini hairy;

pedicels (4)10-35(50) mm, widely diverging, capillary, all the pedicels on each branch longer than the spikelets.

Spikelets

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.

4-18 mm long, 1.4-3 mm wide, linear-lanceolate, grayish-green or stramineous to purplish, with (6)9-30 florets;

disarticulation acropetal, below the lemmas, paleas persistent.

Glumes

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.

narrowly lanceolate, membranous;

lower glumes 1.1-3.4 mm;

upper glumes 1.6-3.4 mm, apices acuminate;

lemmas 1.8-4.4 mm, lanceolate, membranous, lateral veins evident to inconspicuous, sometimes greenish, apices acute to acuminate;

paleas 1.1-3.5 mm, hyaline to membranous, narrower than the lemmas, apices obtuse;

anthers 2, 0.3-0.8 mm, purplish or brownish.

Caryopses

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.

0.6-0.8 mm, ovoid to ellipsoid, finely striate, reddish-brown.

2n

= 40, 80, ca. 108.

= unknown.

Eragrostis lugens

Eragrostis elliottii

Distribution
from FNA
AL; AR; FL; GA; LA; MO; MS; NC; OK; SC; TN; TX
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AL; AR; FL; GA; LA; MO; MS; NC; OK; SC; TX; PR; Virgin Islands
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

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.)

Eragrostis elliottii grows in sandy pinelands and live-oak woodlands on the coastal plain, at 0-150 m. Its range extends from the southeastern United States through the West Indies and Gulf coast of Mexico to Central and South America.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Source FNA vol. 25, p. 95. FNA vol. 25, p. 99.
Parent taxa Poaceae > subfam. Chloridoideae > tribe Cynodonteae > Eragrostis Poaceae > subfam. Chloridoideae > tribe Cynodonteae > Eragrostis
Sibling taxa
E. airoides, E. amabilis, E. atrovirens, E. bahiensis, E. barrelieri, E. capillaris, E. cilianensis, E. ciliaris, E. cumingii, E. curtipedicellata, E. curvula, E. cylindriflora, E. echinochloidea, E. elliottii, E. elongata, E. erosa, E. frankii, E. gangetica, E. hirsuta, E. hypnoides, E. intermedia, E. japonica, E. lehmanniana, E. lutescens, E. mexicana, E. minor, E. obtusiflora, E. palmeri, E. pectinacea, E. pilosa, E. plana, E. polytricha, E. prolifera, E. refracta, E. reptans, E. scaligera, E. secundiflora, E. sessilispica, E. setifolia, E. silveana, E. spectabilis, E. spicata, E. superba, E. swallenii, E. tef, E. trichodes, E. trichophora, E. unioloides
E. airoides, E. amabilis, E. atrovirens, E. bahiensis, E. barrelieri, E. capillaris, E. cilianensis, E. ciliaris, E. cumingii, E. curtipedicellata, E. curvula, E. cylindriflora, E. echinochloidea, E. elongata, E. erosa, E. frankii, E. gangetica, E. hirsuta, E. hypnoides, E. intermedia, E. japonica, E. lehmanniana, E. lugens, E. lutescens, E. mexicana, E. minor, E. obtusiflora, E. palmeri, E. pectinacea, E. pilosa, E. plana, E. polytricha, E. prolifera, E. refracta, E. reptans, E. scaligera, E. secundiflora, E. sessilispica, E. setifolia, E. silveana, E. spectabilis, E. spicata, E. superba, E. swallenii, E. tef, E. trichodes, E. trichophora, E. unioloides
Name authority Nees S. Watson
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