Eragrostis secundiflora
Eragrostis superba
red lovegrass
sawtooth lovegrass, Wilman lovegrass
30-75 cm, erect, glabrous below.
45-95 cm, erect, glabrous.
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.
hairy at the apices and on the margins, hairs to 6 mm;
ligules 0.5-1.2 mm;
blades 7-30 cm long, 2.5-7 mm wide, flat to loosely involute, glabrous abaxially, scabrous adaxially, margins sharply scabrous.
(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.
10-30 cm long, 1-6 cm wide, oblong, condensed, interrupted below;
primary branches 1-11 cm, appressed or diverging to 40° from the rachises, naked basally;
pulvini glabrous;
pedicels 0.5-25 mm, with a narrow band or abscission line below the apices.
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.
5.5-16 mm long, 2.7-9 mm wide, ovate, flattened, greenish to stramineous, sometimes with a reddish-purple tinge, with 4-22 florets;
disarticulation below the glumes, spikelets falling intact.
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.
equal, 3-4.5 mm, ovate, chartaceous;
lemmas 3-5 mm, broadly lanceolate, chartaceous to leathery, lateral veins green, apices acute;
paleas 3-5 mm, chartaceous to hyaline, keels broadly winged below, forming a wing or tooth on each side that often projects beyond the lemma bases, apices acuminate;
anthers 3, 1.4-2.8 mm, golden-yellow.
0.8-1.3 mm, ellipsoid, somewhat laterally flattened, smooth, reddish-brown.
1-2 mm, ellipsoid, adaxial surfaces flattened, reddish-brown.
= 40.
= 40.
Eragrostis secundiflora
Eragrostis superba
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 superba is native to Africa, where it is grown for hay, being fairly palatable and drought resistant. It is also used for erosion control and revegetation. In the Flora region, it grows on rocky slopes, in sandy flats, and along roadsides, at 480-1650 m, often with Acacia, Prosopsis, Fouquieria splendens, Juniperus, and Quercus. The English name is an appropriate description of the leaf blades.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
CalFlora
KS Wildflowers
LA Plants
MO Plants
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
