Glyceria striata |
Poaceae |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
fowl manna grass, glycerie striee, ridged glyceria, ridged manna grass |
grass family |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Habit | Plants perennial. | Plants annual or perennial; usually terrestrial, sometimes aquatic; tufted, mat-forming, cespitose, pluricespitose, or with solitary culms (flowering stems), rhizomes and stolons often well developed. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Culms | 20-80 (100) cm tall, (1.5)2-3.5 mm thick, not or only slightly spongy, sometimes rooting at the lower nodes. |
annual or perennial, herbaceous or woody, usually erect or ascending, sometimes prostrate or decumbent for much of their length, occasionally climbing, rarely floating; nodes prominent, sometimes concealed by the leaf sheaths; internodes hollow or solid, bases meristematic; branching from the basal nodes only or from the basal, middle, and upper nodes; basal branching extravaginal or intravaginal; branching from the upper nodes intravaginal, extravaginal, or infravaginal. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sheaths | smooth to scabridulous, keeled, sometimes weakly so; ligules 1-4 mm, usually rounded, sometimes acute to mucronate, erose-lacerate; blades 12-30 cm long, 2-6 mm wide, abaxial surfaces smooth or scabridulous, adaxial surfaces scabridulous to scabrous. |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Leaves | alternate, 2-ranked, each composed of a sheath and blade encircling the culm or branch; sheaths usually open, sometimes closed, the margins fused for all or part of their length; auricles (lobes of tissue extending beyond the margins of the sheaths on either side) sometimes present; ligules usually present at the sheath-blade junction, particularly on the adaxial surface, abaxial ligules common in the Bambusoideae, membranous, sometimes ciliate, adaxial ligules usually present, of membranous to hyaline tissue, a line of hairs, or a ciliate membrane; blades usually linear to lanceolate, occasionally ovate to triangular, bases sometimes pseudopetiolate (having a petiole-like constriction), venation usually parallel, sometimes with evident cross veins, occasionally divergent. |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Panicles | 6-25 cm long, 2.5-21 cm wide, pyramidal, open, nodding; branches 5-13 cm, straight to lax, lower branches usually strongly divergent to drooping at maturity, sometimes ascending, with 15-50 spikelets, these often confined to the distal 2/3; pedicels 0.5-7 mm. |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Inflorescences | (synflorescences) usually compound, composed of simple or complex aggregations of primary inflorescences, aggregations paniculate, spicate, or racemose or of spikelike branches, often with an evident rachis (central axis), primary inflorescences spikelets, pseudospikelets, or spikelet equivalents; inflorescence branches usually without obvious bracts. |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Spikelets | 1.8-4 mm long, 1.2-2.9 mm wide, laterally compressed, oval in side view, with 3-7 florets. |
with (0-1)2(3-6) glumes (empty bracts) subtending 1-60 florets, glumes and florets distichously attached to a rachilla (central axis); pseudospikelets with bud-subtending bracts below the glumes. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Glumes | ovate, 1-1.5 times longer than wide, narrowing from midlength or above, veins terminating below the apical margins, apices often splitting with age; lower glumes 0.5-1.2 mm, rounded to obtuse; upper glumes 0.6-1.2 mm, acute or rounded; rachilla internodes 0.1-0.6 mm; lemmas 1.2-2 mm, ovate in dorsal view, veins raised, scabridulous over and between the veins, apices acute, prow-shaped; paleas slightly shorter than to equaling the lemmas, lengths 1.5-3 times widths, keeled, keels not winged, tips pointing towards each other, apices narrowly notched between the keels; anthers 2, (0.2)0.4-0.6 mm, purple or yellow. |
usually with an odd number of veins, sometimes awned. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Caryopses | 0.5-2 mm. |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Florets | bisexual, staminate, or pistillate, usually composed of a lemma (lower bract) and palea (upper bract), lodicules, and reproductive organs, often laterally or dorsally compressed, sometimes round in cross section; lemmas usually with an odd number of veins, often awned, bases frequently thick and hard, forming a callus, backs rounded or keeled over the midvein, awns usually 1(-3), arising basally to terminally; paleas usually with 2 major veins, with 0 to many additional veins between the major veins, sometimes also in the margins, often keeled over the major veins; lodicules (0)2-3, inconspicuous, usually without veins, bases swelling at anthesis; stamens usually 3, sometimes 1(2) or 6+, filaments capillary, anthers versatile, usually all alike within a floret, sometimes 1 or 2 evidently longer than the others; ovaries 1-loculed, with (1)2-3(4) styles or style branches, stigmatic region usually plumose. |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Fruits | caryopses, pericarp usually dry and adhering to the seed, sometimes fleshy or dry and separating from the seed at maturity or when moistened; embryos ⅕ as long as to almost equaling the caryopses, highly differentiated with a scutellum (absorptive organ), a shoot with leaf primordium covered by the coleoptile (shoot sheath), and a root covered by the coleorhiza (root sheath); hila punctate to linear. |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
x | = 5,6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12. |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2n | = 20 [reports of 28 are questionable]. |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Glyceria striata |
Poaceae |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Distribution |
AK; AL; AR; AZ; CA; CO; CT; DC; DE; FL; GA; IA; ID; IL; IN; KS; KY; LA; MA; MD; ME; MI; MN; MO; MS; MT; NC; ND; NE; NH; NJ; NM; NV; NY; OH; OK; OR; PA; RI; SC; SD; TN; TX; UT; VA; VT; WA; WI; WV; WY; AB; BC; MB; NB; NL; NS; NT; ON; PE; QC; SK; YT
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Discussion | Glyceria striata grows in bogs, along lakes and streams, and in other wet places. Its range extends from Alaska to Newfoundland and south into Mexico. Plants from the eastern portion of the range have sometimes been treated as G. striata var. striata, and those from the west as G. striata var. stricta (Scribn.) Fernald. Eastern plants tend to have somewhat narrower leaves and thinner culms than western plants, but the variation appears continuous. In the west, larger specimens are easy to confuse with G. elata. The two species are sometimes found growing together without hybridizing; this and molecular data (Whipple et al. [in prep.]) support their recognition as separate species. The differences between the two in growth habit and stature are evident in the field; they are not always evident on herbarium specimens. In its overall aspect, G. striata also resembles G. pulchella, but it has somewhat more lax panicle branches in addition to smaller spikelets and florets. Glyceria xgatineauensis Bowden is a sterile hybrid between G. striata and G. melicaria. It resembles G. melicaria but has longer (up to 12 cm), less appressed panicle branches and is a triploid with 2n = 30. It was described from a population near Eardley, Quebec. An additional specimen, tentatively identified as G. xgatineauensis, was collected in 1929 from French Creek in Upshur County, West Virginia. Glyceria xottawensis Bowden is a sterile hybrid between G. striata and G. canadensis. It is intermediate between the two parents, and is known only from the original populations near Ottawa. It has sometimes been included in G. xlaxa (Scribn.) Scribn. [=G. canadensis var. laxa]; that taxon often produces viable seed, indicating that it is not a hybrid. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
The Poaceae or grass family includes approximately 700 genera and 11,000 species (Chen et al. 2006). The two grass volumes in this series treat 10 subfamilies, 25 tribes, 236 genera, and 1373 species. Of these, all the subfamilies, 22 tribes, 136 genera, and 892 species are native to the Flora region; 2 tribes, 78 genera, and 290 species have become established in the region. The remaining taxa include ornamental species; species grown for research purposes; species that, if introduced to the region, would pose a threat to important agricultural species; and a few waifs, i.e., species that have been found in the region but have not become established. Most of the waifs are species that were found on ballast dumps near ports around the turn of the last century. Grasses constitute the fourth largest plant family in terms of number of species. Nevertheless, the family is clearly more significant than any other plant family in terms of geographic, ecological, and economic importance. Grasses grow in almost all terrestrial environments, including dense forests, open deserts, and freshwater streams and lakes. There are no truly marine grasses, but some species grow within reach of the highest tides. In addition to being widely distributed, grasses are often dominant or co-dominant over large areas. The importance of such areas to humans is reflected in the many words that exist for grasslands, words such as meadow, palouse, pampas, prairie, savanna(h), steppe, and veldt. Not surprisingly, given their abundance and prevalence, grasses are of great ecological importance as soil stabilizers and as providers of shelter and food for many different animals. The economic importance of grasses to humans is almost impossible to overestimate. The wealth of individuals and countries is dependent on the availability of such sources of grain as Triticum (wheat), Oryza (rice), Zea (corn or maize), Hordeum (barley), Avena (oats), Secale (rye), Eragrostis (tef), and Zizania (wild rice). Most countries invest heavily in research programs designed to develop better strains of these grasses and the many other grasses that are used for livestock, soil stabilization, and revegetation. Developing improved grasses for recreation areas, such as playing fields, golf courses, and parks, is also a major industry in many parts of the world; increasing recognition of the aesthetic value af grasses is reflected in their prominence in horticultural catalogs. There are, of course, grasses that are considered undesirable, at least in some parts of the world, but even the most obnoxious grasses may be well-regarded over a portion of their range. For instance, Bromus tectorum (cheatgrass) is a noxious, fire-prone invader of western North American ecosystems; it is also welcomed as a source of early spring feed in some parts of the Flora region. Cynodon dactylon (bermudagrass) is listed as a noxious weed in some jurisdictions; in others it is valued as a lawn grass. Although grasses are widespread and often dominant in open areas, all evidence points to an origin of the family in forests, most likely in the Southern Hemisphere, at least 55-70 mya (Grass Phylogeny Working Group 2001). Recent evidence from phytoliths (isolated silica bodies commonly produced inside the epidermal cells of grasses and some other plants) embedded in fossil coprolites strongly suggests that grasses evolved earlier in the Cretaceous than previously thought (Prasad et al. 2005). Living representatives of the three earliest lineages of the grass family, together comprising about 30 species, are perennial, broad-leaved plants of relatively small stature, native to tropical or subtropical forests in South America, Africa, southeast Asia, some Pacific Islands, and northern Australia. The major diversification of the family probably occurred in the mid-Cenozoic, and was associated with climatic changes that produced more open habitats. All major lineages of the grass family were present by the middle of the Miocene (Jacobs et al. 1999), and C4 photosynthesis in grasses had evolved by then, as well. Molecular and morphological data unequivocally support a single origin for the Poaceae (Grass Phylogeny Working Group 2001). The caryopsis, a single-seeded, usually dry and indehiscent fruit with the pericarp usually strongly adherent to the seed, and the laterally positioned, highly differentiated embryo are unique to grasses. Beyond the three early-diverging lineages (Anomochlooideae Potztal, Pharoideae, and Puelioideae L.G. Clark et al.), the great diversity of grasses can be divided into two major lineages: the BEP clade (Bambusoideae, Ehrhartoideae, and Pooideae); and the PACMCAD clade (Panicoideae, Arundinoideae, Chloridoideae, Micrairoideae Pilger, Centothecoideae, Aristidoideae, and Danthonioideae, i.e., the PACCAD clade of volume 25 plus the Micrairoideae, support for recognition of which was obtained after publication of that volume). Relationships among the BEP grass lineages remain uncertain, and some evidence points to the Pooideae as being more closely related to the PACMCAD clade than to the Bambusoideae or Ehrhartoideae. The PACMCAD clade includes all known C4 or warm-season grasses. The closest relatives of the Poaceae lie within a group of six families, all native primarily to the Southern Hemisphere: Joinvilleaceae Toml. & A.C. Sm., Ecdeiocoleaceae D.F. Cutler &c& Airy Shaw, Restionaceae R. Br., Centrolepidaceae Endl., Anarthriaceae D.E Cutler &c& Airy Shaw, and Flagellariaceae Dumort. (Poales Small, sensu stricto). Joinvilleaceae, Ecdeiocoleaceae, and Poaceae constitute a three family clade, with Ecdeiocoleaceae probably being closer than Joinvilleaceae to the Poaceae (Bremer 2000; Bremer 2002; Michelangeli et al. 2003). Rudall et al. (2005), based on a study of reproductive structures in the Ecdeiocoleaceae, suggest that the grass caryopsis may represent "one end of a transformation series embodied by the reduced gynoecial structure and indehiscent fruit of other Poales such as Flagellaria and Ecdeiocolea" (p. 1441). (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Key | Key to Tribes
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Source | FNA vol. 24, p. 77. | FNA vol. 24, p. 3. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Parent taxa | Poaceae > subfam. Pooideae > tribe Meliceae > Glyceria > sect. Striatae | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sibling taxa | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Synonyms | G. striata var. stricta, G. striata subsp. stricta, Panicularia nervata, G. nervata | family gramineae | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Name authority | (Lam.) Hitchc. | Barnhart | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Web links |
|
|