Gymnopogon ambiguus
Gymnopogon brevifolius
bearded skeletongrass, eastern beardgrass
shortleaf skeletongrass
20-100 cm, suberect to spreading, stiff, simple to sparingly branched.
10-100 cm, erect or decumbent, single or in clumps, simple or sparingly branched.
mostly glabrous, throats sometimes pubescent;
collars conspicuously pubescent;
ligules about 0.2 mm;
blades (1.5)2.5-12 cm long, (2)5-10(18) mm wide, somewhat cordate at the base, mostly glabrous, often pubescent near the basal margins.
mostly glabrous, throats pubescent;
collars mostly glabrous, margins often with hairs;
ligules about 0.5 mm;
blades (1)2-8 cm long, 2-8(10) mm wide, glabrous abaxially, glabrous or scabrous adaxially.
(6)11.5-30(35) cm;
branches (3)7-24 cm, stiffly spreading to somewhat reflexed, spikelet-bearing from the base, spikelets remote to slightly imbricate.
10-30 cm;
branches (6)10-17(20) cm, naked for at least the lower 1/3 of their length, spikelets distant to remote.
with 1(2) florets.
with 1(2) florets;
rachilla extensions naked or with a minute rudimentary floret.
4-7 mm;
calluses bearded;
bisexual lemmas 2.5-5(6) mm, awns 4-12.2 mm;
second florets often reduced to an obliquely inserted 2.4-6.2 mm awn;
anthers 3, 0.8-1.2 mm.
(2)3.5-5 mm;
bisexual lemmas 1.8-3.8 mm, awns 0.8-3 mm;
anthers 3, 0.8-1 mm.
2-3 mm long, 0.2-0.5 mm wide.
1.6-1.9 mm long, 0.3-0.5 mm wide.
= 40.
= unknown.
Gymnopogon ambiguus
Gymnopogon brevifolius
Gymnopogon ambiguus grows in sandy pine woodlands of the southeastern United States, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic. It often grows with G. brevifolius, from which it differs in being more robust, having long, wider leaves, longer lemma awns, and, usually, having panicle branches that are spikelet-bearing to the base. Although spikelets of Gymnopogon ambiguus usually have only one floret, several plants from Texas have been found in which two florets per spikelet were the norm.
There is an 1853 collection of G. ambiguus supposedly from Dona Ana County, New Mexico, but there have been no recent collections from anywhere near there; it is possible that the locality data on the label are incorrect.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Gymnopogon brevifolius grows in dry to somewhat moist sandy pine woodlands of the southeastern United States, usually in loamy soils. It generally has rather weak, decumbent culms that tend to be obscured by the surrounding vegetation. Plants with stiffer culms tend to be confused with Gymnopogon ambiguus, but differ as discussed under G. ambiguus. Intermediate plants may be hybrids between the two species; there has been no experimental evaluation of this hypothesis.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
IL Wildflowers
KS Wildflowers
LA Plants
MD Biodiversity
MO Plants
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
