Luziola peruviana
Luziola
Peruvian watergrass
watergrass
10-40 cm, suberect, branching, fully or mostly emergent.
10-100+ cm, erect or prostrate, sometimes rooting at the nodes, branched, emergent or immersed.
mostly basal or scattered along the culms, not conspicuously floating or streaming in the current;
sheaths glabrous or ciliate;
ligules to 5 mm, lanceolate, acuminate;
blades 3-30 cm long, 0.5-4 mm wide, glabrous, sometimes scabridulous.
cauline;
sheaths open, not inflated or somewhat inflated;
ligules hyaline;
pseudopetioles present or absent;
blades flat, linear to lanceolate or narrowly elliptic, glabrous, pubescent, or scabrous.
panicles.
panicles, racemes, or spikes, exserted or enclosed, staminate and pistillate spikelets usually in separate inflorescences, pistillate inflorescences at the lower or middle nodes, staminate inflorescences usually terminal;
disarticulation below the spikelets.
unisexual, laterally compressed to subterete, with 1 floret.
absent;
calluses glabrous;
lemmas and paleas subequal, ovate or lanceolate, membranous or hyaline, unawned;
lodicules 2.
achenes, ovoid, ellipsoid, or subglobose, beaked by the persistent style bases;
pericarps shell-like, partially free from the seed, smooth or striate, crustaceous;
seeds ovoid to subglobose;
embryos basal;
hila linear, x = 12.
1-1.3 mm, broadly ellipsoid to subglobose, smooth, lustrous.
panicles 1-3 cm, terminal, with 10-25 spikelets; staminate florets 3.5-8 mm, caducous;
lemmas lanceolate, 5-veined;
paleas similar, 3-veined;
anthers 6, 2-5 mm.
lemmas and paleas obscurely few- to several-veined;
anthers 6-16.
panicles to 7 cm, arising from the lower to middle nodes of the culms, partially exserted from the sheaths, with 10-25 spikelets;
branches filiform, spreading to reflexed; pistillate florets 2-2.5 mm, caducous;
lemmas 7-14-veined, erose to acuminate or caudate;
paleas similar to the lemmas, 5-10-veined;
stigmas 2-3 mm.
lemmas 5-14-veined, margins not clasping the margins of the paleas, unawned;
paleas 3-10-veined;
styles 2, bases fused, stigmas laterally or terminally exserted, plumose.
= 24.
Luziola peruviana
Luziola
Luziola peruviana has been found at scattered locations from Texas to Florida. It is native to the Caribbean, Central America, and South America, and grows in wet places and shallow water along streams and lakes.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Luziola is a genus of about 12 species that range from the southeastern United States to Argentina. Only L. fluitans is native to the Flora region; two other species have been introduced and are established. The species are emergent or immersed in shallow, fresh to brackish water.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
1. Culms prostrate, usually immersed; leaves floating or streaming in currents, 1-5(8) cm long, usually more numerous towards the ends of the culms; pistillate inflorescences mostly included in the sheaths, only the stigmas visible | L. fluitans |
1. Culms suberect to erect, from fully emergent to immersed; leaves not conspicuously floating or streaming, longer than 6 cm, basal or scattered along the culms; pistillate inflorescences all or mostly exserted, their branches and spikelets evident. | → 2 |
2. Pistillate florets 3-5 mm long; achenes striate | L. bahiensis |
2. Pistillate florets 2-2.5 mm long; achenes smooth | L. peruviana |
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