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Peruvian watergrass

silverleaf grass, southern watergrass, watergrass

Habit Plants stoloniferous, fully or mostly emergent. Plants stoloniferous; mostly immersed.
Culms

10-40 cm, suberect, branching, fully or mostly emergent.

to 1+ m, bases prostrate and rooting at the nodes.

Leaves

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.

mainly cauline, usually crowded distally, streaming in the current or floating on the surface, distal leaves sometimes emergent;

sheaths glabrous;

ligules 0.5-2 mm, subtriangular to truncate, sometimes erose;

pseudopetioles sometimes present;

blades 1-5(8) cm long, 1-4 mm wide, glabrous, sometimes pilose basally, scabridulous.

Inflorescences

panicles.

spikes or racemes, spikelets sessile or shortly pedicellate.

Achenes

1-1.3 mm, broadly ellipsoid to subglobose, smooth, lustrous.

1.3-2 mm, ovoid, asymmetrical, minutely striate, lustrous.

Staminate

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.

inflorescences 1-2 cm, terminal, partially exserted from the sheaths, emergent at anthesis, with 2-4 spikelets; staminate florets 3-5 mm;

lemmas narrowly ovate, usually 5-veined;

paleas similar, usually 3-veined;

anthers 6,2-3.7 mm, linear.

Pistillate

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.

inflorescences 0.5-2 cm, mostly included in the subtending sheaths, only the stigmas visible, with 2 to few spikelets; pistillate florets 1.4-3 mm, caducous;

lemmas 5-9-veined, acuminate;

paleas similar to the lemmas, 3-7-veined;

stigmas 3-6 mm.

2n

= 24.

= 24.

Luziola peruviana

Luziola fluitans

Distribution
from FNA
FL; LA; TX
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AL; AR; FL; GA; LA; MS; NC; SC; TX
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

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 fluitans grows in fresh to slightly saline lakes and streams in the southeastern United States and eastern Mexico. It is most common in the coastal plain, and also occurs in the Piedmont. Plants in the United States and eastern Mexico belong to L. fluitans (Michx.) Terrell & H. Rob var. fluitans, which differs from L. fluitans var. oconnorii (R. Guzman) G. Tucker of the uplands of central Mexico in having shorter and narrower leaf blades, shorter spikelets, and shorter anthers.

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

Source FNA vol. 24, p. 55. FNA vol. 24, p. 54.
Parent taxa Poaceae > subfam. Ehrhartoideae > tribe Oryzeae > Luziola Poaceae > subfam. Ehrhartoideae > tribe Oryzeae > Luziola
Sibling taxa
L. bahiensis, L. fluitans
L. bahiensis, L. peruviana
Synonyms Hydrochloa caroliniensis
Name authority J.F. Gmel. (Michx.) Terrell & H. Rob.
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