The green links below add additional plants to the comparison table. Blue links lead to other Web sites.
enable glossary links

Florida fingergrass, twospike fingergrass

Argentine fingergrass

Culms

50-100 cm, erect.

30-80 cm, erect, or decumbent and rooting at the nodes.

Blades

to 30 cm long, to 8.2 mm wide, apices acute.

6-12 cm long, 5-10 mm wide, usually folded, apices obtuse.

Panicles

with 1-3 branches;

branches 5-13 cm.

with (6)8-15 branches;

branches 4-10 cm, straight, somewhat stiff.

Spikelets

3-3.7 mm;

florets 3.

1.5-2.1 mm;

florets 2.

Lower glumes

1.8-2 mm, apices acute to obtuse;

upper glumes 2.2-3.1 mm, oblanceolate, truncate to occasionally bilobed, lobes obtuse, awned from between the lobes, awns 0.5-1 mm;

calluses with tufts of hairs, hairs to 0.6 mm;

lowest lemmas 2.9-3.7 mm, ovate, tan to light brown at maturity, lateral veins and keels with appressed, whitish to golden hairs, hairs to 0.7 mm, apices acute, awned, awns 0.4-0.6 mm, arising from just below the apices;

second lemmas 1.5-2.6 mm, obovate, acute, mucronate.

1.1-1.3 mm, linear-lanceolate, acute;

upper glumes 1.3-1.5 mm, oblanceolate, apices truncate or bilobed, mucronate, mucros to 0.4 mm;

calluses with a few short hairs;

lowest lemmas 1.7-2 mm, lanceolate to ovate, not strongly keeled, midveins glabrous, lateral veins with widely spreading, white, 1-2 mm hairs, apices acute to mucronate;

second lemmas 1.1-1.2 mm, broadly cuneate, apices truncate.

Caryopses

about 1.7 mm.

about 1 mm.

2n

= unknown.

= 40.

Eustachys floridana

Eustachys retusa

Distribution
from FNA
AL; FL; GA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
FL; GA; NJ; NY; SC; TX
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Eustachys floridana grows in dry, sandy woods and old fields. It is endemic to the southeastern United States.

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

Eustachys retusa is native to South America, but it is now established along roadsides, sandy fields, and waste areas in the southeastern United States.

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

Source FNA vol. 25, p. 222. FNA vol. 25, p. 222.
Parent taxa Poaceae > subfam. Chloridoideae > tribe Cynodonteae > Eustachys Poaceae > subfam. Chloridoideae > tribe Cynodonteae > Eustachys
Sibling taxa
E. caribaea, E. distichophylla, E. glauca, E. neglecta, E. petraea, E. retusa
E. caribaea, E. distichophylla, E. floridana, E. glauca, E. neglecta, E. petraea
Synonyms Chloris floridana Chloris argentina
Name authority Chapm. (Lag.) Kunth
Web links