Fimbristylis schoenoides |
Fimbristylis cymosa |
|
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ditch fimbry |
hurricanegrass |
|
Habit | Plants annual, cespitose, 10–35(–40) cm, glabrous; rhizomes absent. | Plants perennial, cespitose, (5–)10–60 cm, bases hard, glabrous; rhizomes absent. |
Leaves | polystichous, mostly spreading to ascending; sheath margins entire; ligule present, complete; blades narrowly linear, to 1 mm wide, flat to shallowly involute, margins distantly scabrid, surface glabrous. |
polystichous, mostly spreading-excurved, to 1/2 as long as culms; sheaths usually entire; ligule absent; blades linear, 2–3 mm wide, flat or shallowly involute, margin scabrid, apex blunt. |
Inflorescences | spikelets 1, terminal or 2–3 in simple anthela longer than broad, laterals subsessile; scapes narrowly linear, coarsely ribbed, distally compressed; involucral bracts usually 1 per spikelet, exceeding or exceeded by it. |
simple or compound anthelae with numerous small pedunculate clusters of sessile spikelets; scapes linear, distally terete, 1–2 mm thick; involucral bracts short, usually shorter than inflorescence. |
Spikelets | yellowish, mostly turgidly ovoid, 5–8 mm; fertile scales broadly ovate, 2–3 mm, apex obtuse, entire, midrib excurrent or not. |
greenish brown or yellow-brown, ovoid, 2–3 mm; fertile scales broadly ovate, 1–1.5 mm, obtuse or apically notched, midrib not excurrent. |
Flowers | stamens 3, styles 2-fid, flattened, fimbriate. |
stamens usually 1; styles 2-fid, slender, glabrous. |
Achenes | near white to pale brown, lenticular-obovoid to obpyriform, 2 mm, appearing smooth under 10–20X magnification, under higher power finely longitudinally ribbed, with fine, isodiametric pits in vertical lines. |
dark brown to nearly black, tumidly obovoid, rarely obscurely 3-ribbed, 1 mm, faintly striate to variously warty, faintly reticulate. |
2n | = 10. |
= 56. |
Fimbristylis schoenoides |
Fimbristylis cymosa |
|
Phenology | Fruiting summer–fall, all year in south. | Fruiting all year. |
Habitat | Moist sands or sandy peats of roadsides, ditches, flatwoods clearings, savanna, and particularly, disturbed low, open areas | Sands of sea beaches, brackish sandy open sites, often disturbed, commonly just in from mangrove or on sandy road shoulders |
Elevation | 1–100 m (0–300 ft) | 0–50 m (0–200 ft) |
Distribution |
AL; FL; GA; LA; MS; tropical Asia; Africa [Introduced in North America]
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FL; s Mexico; Central America; South America; Africa; Asia; Indian Ocean Islands; Pacific Islands; Australia |
Discussion | Fimbristylis schoenoides is an unusual Fimbristylis for us, with a smooth, “eleocharis-like” appearance. The plants are mostly low and spreading-culmed, glabrous annuals of Asian origin. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
New World examples of Fimbristylis cymosa are almost exclusively bicarpellate, with bifid styles; Old World Oceania examples are tricarpellate, with trifid styles, a form not covered in this treatment. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 23, p. 124. | FNA vol. 23, p. 128. |
Parent taxa | Cyperaceae > Fimbristylis | Cyperaceae > Fimbristylis |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | Scirpus schoenoides, F. inconstans | F. melanospora, F. obtusifolia, F. sintenisii, F. spathacea, Scirpus obtusifolius |
Name authority | (Retzius) Vahl: Enum. Pl. 2: 286. (1805) | R. Brown: Prodr., 228. (1810) |
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