Eragrostis secundiflora
Eragrostis lehmanniana
red lovegrass
Lehmann lovegrass, Lehmann's love grass
30-75 cm, erect, glabrous below.
(20)40-80 cm, erect, commonly geniculate, sometimes rooting at the lower nodes, glabrous, lower portions sometimes scabridulous.
mostly glabrous, hairy at the apices, hairs to 4 mm;
ligules 0.2-0.3 mm;
blades 10-25(40) cm long, 1-5 mm wide, involute, glabrous abaxially, scabridulous adaxially, sometimes also sparsely pilose.
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.
(3)5-30 cm long, 1-15 cm wide, from narrowly oblong, glomerate, and interrupted below to ovate and open;
primary branches 0.5-12(16) cm, appressed or diverging up to 40° from the rachises, stiff;
pulvini glabrous or sparsely hairy;
pedicels 0-1(3) mm, appressed, flattened.
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.
6-16(23) cm long, 2.4-5 mm wide, ovate to linear-elliptic, flattened, stramineous, with reddish-purple margins or completely reddish-purple, with 10-45 florets;
disarticulation basipetal, florets falling intact and before the glumes.
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.
ovate-lanceolate to lanceolate, membranous;
lower glumes 1.7-3 mm;
upper glumes 2.2-4 mm, apices acuminate;
lemmas 2-6 mm, ovate, membranous to leathery, apices usually acuminate or attenuate, sometimes acute;
paleas 1.5-3 mm, membranous to leathery, narrower than the lemmas, apices obtuse, sometimes bifid;
anthers 2, 0.2-0.5 mm, brownish.
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.
0.8-1.3 mm, ellipsoid, somewhat laterally flattened, smooth, reddish-brown.
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.
= 40.
= 40, 60.
Eragrostis secundiflora
Eragrostis lehmanniana
There are two subspecies of E. secundiflora; plants from the Flora region belong to E. secundiflora subsp. oxylepis (Torrey) S.D. Koch. They grow in sandy soils, dunes, grasslands, beaches, and roadsides of the southern United States and northern Mexico, at 0-1000 m. Eragrostis secundiflora J. Presl subsp. secundiflora grows in Mexico and Central and South America.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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.)
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