Melica bulbosa |
Melica aristata |
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bulbous oniongrass, onion grass, western onion grass |
awn melic, bearded melic grass, bearded oniongrass |
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Habit | Plants loosely cespitose, rhizomatous. | Plants cespitose, not rhizomatous. |
Culms | 29-100 cm, forming corms, corms almost sessile on the connecting rhizomes; internodes scabridulous above the nodes. |
40-120 cm, not forming corms; internodes smooth. |
Sheaths | usually scabridulous, sometimes sparsely pilose; ligules 2-6 mm; blades 1.5-5 mm wide, abaxial surfaces scabridulous, adaxial surfaces with hairs. |
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. |
Panicles | 7-30 cm; branches 2-6.5 cm, appressed, usually straight, with 1-5 spikelets; pedicels straight; disarticulation above the glumes. |
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. |
Spikelets | 6-24 mm, with 4-7 bisexual florets, base of the distal florets concealed at anthesis; rachilla internodes 1-2 mm, not swollen when fresh, not wrinkled when dry. |
11-21 mm, with (2)3-5 bisexual florets; rachilla internodes 3.4-3.8 mm. |
Glumes | from (1/2)2/3 as long as to equaling the spikelets; lower glumes 5.5-10.5 mm long, 2-3 mm wide, 3-5-veined; upper glumes 6-14 mm long, 2.3-3.5 mm wide, 5-7-veined; lemmas 6-12 mm, glabrous, smooth or scabrous, 7-11-veined, veins prominent, apices emarginate to acute, unawned; paleas about 3/4 the length of the lemmas; anthers 3, 1.5-4 mm; rudiments 1.5-5 mm, truncate to tapering, sometimes resembling the bisexual florets in shape. |
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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. |
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Caryopses | 5-6 mm. |
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2n | =18. |
=18. |
Melica bulbosa |
Melica aristata |
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Distribution |
CA; CO; ID; MT; NV; OR; SD; TX; UT; WA; WY; BC; SK
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CA; KY; NV; OR; WA
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Discussion | Melica bulbosa grows from 1370-3400 m, mostly in open woods on dry, well-drained slopes and along streams. It is restricted to the western half of the Flora region. Two records from Texas, in Jeff Davis and Sutton counties, have not been verified. Melica bulbosa differs from M. spectabilis in its sessile corm and longer glumes. In addition, in M. bulbosa the spikelets have purplish bands which appear to be concentrated towards the apices; in M. spectabilis the bands appear more regularly spaced. It differs from M. californica in its more narrowly acute spikelets, more strongly colored lemmas, and lack of corms, and from M. fugax in not having swollen rachilla internodes. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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.) |
Source | FNA vol. 24, p. 91. | FNA vol. 24, p. 95. |
Parent taxa | Poaceae > subfam. Pooideae > tribe Meliceae > Melica | Poaceae > subfam. Pooideae > tribe Meliceae > Melica |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | M. bulbosa var. intonsa, M. bulbosa var. inflata, Bromelica bulbosa | |
Name authority | Geyer ex Porter & J.M. Coult. | Thurb. ex Bol. |
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