Eragrostis trichodes
Eragrostis superba
sand lovegrass
sawtooth lovegrass, Wilman lovegrass
30-120 (160) cm, erect, glabrous and non-glandular below the nodes.
45-95 cm, erect, glabrous.
sometimes villous along the margins, apices hairy, hairs to 5 mm;
ligules 0.3-0.5 mm;
blades 15-46(65) cm long, 1.5-8 mm wide, flat to involute, abaxial surfaces glabrous, adaxial surfaces scabridulous, sometimes also pilose on the basal 1/4, hairs to 4 mm.
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.
30-80 cm long, 6-30 cm wide, oblong to ovoid, diffuse;
primary branches 2-35 cm, diverging 20-90° from the rachises, naked basally;
pulvini hairy or glabrous;
pedicels 2-22 cm, diverging, capillary.
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.
3-15 mm long, 1.5—3.6 mm wide, ovate to lanceolate, greenish-yellow with a reddish-purple tinge, with (2)4-18 florets;
disarticulation acropetal, paleas persistent.
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.
subequal, 1.8-4 mm, narrowly ovate to linear-lanceolate, membranous, apices acuminate;
upper glumes as long as or longer than the basal lemmas;
lemmas 2.2-3.5 mm, broadly ovate to lanceolate, membranous, strongly keeled, keels not glandular, lateral veins conspicuous, apices acute;
paleas 1.8-2.8 mm, hyaline, narrower than the lemmas, keels ciliolate, apices obtuse to truncate;
anthers 3, 1-1.6 mm, purplish.
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, rectangular-prismatic, somewhat laterally compressed, with a wide, deep adaxial groove, faintly striate, opaque, dark reddish-brown.
1-2 mm, ellipsoid, adaxial surfaces flattened, reddish-brown.
= 40.
= 40.
Eragrostis trichodes
Eragrostis superba
Eragrostis trichodes grows in sandy to gravelly prairies, open sandy woods, rocky slopes, and roadsides, at 100-2150 m, often in associations with Quercus marilandica, Q. stellata, Juniperus, and Redfieldia flexuosa. It is endemic to the contiguous United States, and is available commercially as an ornamental. Records from outside the primary range probably reflect introductions.
(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.)
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