Flora of North America species comparison

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Eragrostis refracta

Eragrostis plana

coastal lovegrass

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

30-85(110) cm, glabrous and shiny below the nodes.

65-100 cm, erect, glabrous.
Sheaths

sparsely hairy at the apices, hairs to 6 mm;

ligules 0.1-0.4 mm;

blades 10-35 cm long, 2-5 mm wide, flat to involute, glabrous abaxially, scabridulous and sparsely pilose adaxially, hairs to 7 mm.

flattened, smooth, shiny, glabrous or puberulent;

ligules 0.2-0.4 mm;

blades 15-50(70) cm long, 2-4 mm wide, folded, margins involute or revolute, abaxial surfaces glabrous or sparsely hairy, adaxial surfaces scabridulous.
Panicles

(25)30-60 cm long, 25-40 cm wide, broadly ovate to obovate, open, diffuse;

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

pulvini hairy or glabrous;

pedicels 0.5-25 mm, appressed, only the terminal pedicels on each branch longer than the spikelets.

13-28 cm long, 2-8 cm wide, narrowly oblong to narrowly lanceolate, contracted to open;

primary branches 1-8 cm, appressed or diverging up to 30° from the rachises;

pulvini glabrous or hairy;

pedicels 1-7 mm, appressed, glabrous.
Spikelets

4-18(23) mm long, 1.4-3.4 mm wide, linear-lanceolate, grayish-green or stramineous to purplish, with (4)9-30 florets;

disarticulation tardy, basipetal, in the rachillas below the florets, glumes persistent.

6-14 mm long, 1.3-2.5 mm wide, linear-oblong, greenish to plumbeous, with 9-14 florets;

disarticulation acropetal, paleas persistent.
Glumes

narrowly lanceolate, membranous;

lower glumes 0.8-2.4 mm;

upper glumes 1.5-2.6 mm;

lemmas 1.4-2.8 mm, lanceolate, membranous, apices acute to acuminate;

paleas 1-2.6 mm, hyaline to membranous, narrower than the lemmas, apices obtuse to acute;

anthers 2, 0.3-0.5 mm, purplish or brownish.

narrowly ovate to lanceolate, membranous to hyaline;

lower glumes 0.4-1.2 mm, scalelike;

upper glumes 1-1.5 mm;

lemmas 1.8-3 mm, ovate, membranous, strongly keeled, keels with minute punctate glands, lateral veins conspicuous, apices acute to obtuse;

paleas 1.8-3 mm, hyaline to membranous, bases not projecting beyond the lemmas, apices obtuse to truncate;

anthers 3, 1.2-1.8 mm, reddish-purple.
Caryopses

0.5-0.9 mm, ovoid to ellipsoid, finely striate, reddish-brown.

1-1.6 mm, rectangular-prismatic to ovoid, laterally compressed, adaxial surfaces deeply grooved, smooth, opaque, reddish-brown.
2n

= 28.

= 20.

Eragrostis refracta

Eragrostis plana
Distribution
from FNA
AL; AR; DE; FL; GA; LA; MD; MO; MS; NC; NJ; OK; SC; TX; VA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
SC
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Eragrostis refracta grows in sandy pinelands, savannahs, marshes, and woodlands on the coastal plain of the southeastern United States, at 0-150 m. It is not known from Mexico.

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

Eragrostis plana is native to southern Africa. It is known from two locations in the Flora region, both waste areas near sheep and cattle lots in Florence County, South Carolina.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 25, p. 97. FNA vol. 25, p. 91.
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. lugens, E. lutescens, E. mexicana, E. minor, E. obtusiflora, E. palmeri, E. pectinacea, E. pilosa, E. plana, E. polytricha, E. prolifera, 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. elliottii, 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. 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
Synonyms E. virginica, E. campestris
Name authority (Muhl.) Scribn. Nees
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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