Melica aristata |
Melica mutica |
|
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awn melic, bearded melic grass, bearded oniongrass |
oniongrass, two-flower melic, twoflower melicgrass |
|
Habit | Plants cespitose, not rhizomatous. | Plants not or loosely cespitose, shortly rhizomatous. |
Culms | 40-120 cm, not forming corms; internodes smooth. |
45-100 cm, not forming corms; internodes sometimes scabridulous above the nodes. |
Sheaths | glabrous, scabrous, sometimes sparsely pilose; ligules 2.5-5 mm; blades 5.5-15 cm long, 2-6 mm wide, often sparsely pilose on both surfaces. |
glabrous or pilose; ligules 0.5-1.5 mm; blades 1.8-6 mm wide, abaxial surfaces glabrous, scabridulous, adaxial surfaces with hairs. |
Panicles | 10-26 cm; branches 4-6 cm, appressed or strongly ascending, with 1-4 spikelets per branch; pedicels not sharply bent; disarticulation above the glumes. |
4-25 cm; branches 3.5-6 cm, appressed to spreading, straight, with 2-5 spikelets; pedicels sharply bent below the spikelets; disarticulation below the glumes. |
Spikelets | 11-21 mm, with (2)3-5 bisexual florets; rachilla internodes 3.4-3.8 mm. |
6-11 mm, with (1)2(4) bisexual florets, floret apices at about the same level; rachilla internodes 1.5-1.7 mm. |
Lower glumes | 9-11 mm long, 1.5-2.5 mm wide, 3-5-veined; upper glumes 11-12 mm long, 2-3 mm wide, 5-7-veined; lemmas 8-13 mm, with 0.3-0.6 mm hairs on the marginal veins, glabrous or with hairs to 0.1 mm elsewhere, 5-7-veined, veins prominent, apices bifid to emarginate, awned from the sinuses, awns 5-12 mm; paleas about 3/4 the length of the lemmas; anthers 2, 2-3 mm; rudiments 2.5-6 mm, tapering, resembling the bisexual florets. |
4.5-8 mm long, 3-4 mm wide, 5-7-veined; upper glumes 5-9 mm long, 2.5-3.5 mm wide, 5-6-veined; lemmas 6-11 mm, glabrous or scabrous, indurate, 9-11-veined, veins prominent, apices rounded to acute, unawned; paleas about 3/4 the length of the lemmas; anthers 1-3 mm; rudiments 2-3 mm, clublike, not resembling the bisexual florets, at a sharp angle to the rachilla. |
Caryopses | 5-6 mm. |
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2n | =18. |
= 18. |
Melica aristata |
Melica mutica |
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Distribution |
CA; KY; NV; OR; WA
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AL; AR; DC; FL; GA; IA; IL; IN; KY; LA; MD; MS; NC; NJ; OK; SC; TN; TX; VA; WV
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Discussion | Melica aristata grows from 1000-3000 m in open fir and pine woods. It is restricted to the Flora region, being native from Washington to southern California. It has also been found in Kentucky, possibly as an introduction from contaminated seed. Melica aristata is easily distinguished from most species of Melica by its conspicuous awns. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Melica mutica grows in moist or dry areas in open woods and thickets, from Iowa and Texas east to Maryland and Florida. It is unique among the North American species in having a clublike rudiment at a sharp angle to the rachilla. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 24, p. 95. | FNA vol. 24, p. 100. |
Parent taxa | Poaceae > subfam. Pooideae > tribe Meliceae > Melica | Poaceae > subfam. Pooideae > tribe Meliceae > Melica |
Sibling taxa | ||
Name authority | Thurb. ex Bol. | Walter |
Web links |
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