Melica bulbosa |
Melica subulata |
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bulbous oniongrass, onion grass, western onion grass |
Alaska melic, Alaska oniongrass, alaskan oniongrass, tapered oniongrass |
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Habit | Plants loosely cespitose, rhizomatous. | Plants cespitose, rhizomatous. |
Culms | 29-100 cm, forming corms, corms almost sessile on the connecting rhizomes; internodes scabridulous above the nodes. |
55-125 cm, forming corms, corms attached to the rhizomes; internodes scabridulous basally. |
Sheaths | usually scabridulous, sometimes sparsely pilose; ligules 2-6 mm; blades 1.5-5 mm wide, abaxial surfaces scabridulous, adaxial surfaces with hairs. |
usually scabridulous, sometimes glabrous or pilose; ligules 0.4-5 mm, to 1.5 mm on the lower leaves, to 5 mm on the upper leaves; blades 2-10 mm wide, abaxial surfaces smooth or scabridulous, adaxial surfaces scabridulous, glabrous or with hairs. |
Panicles | 7-30 cm; branches 2-6.5 cm, appressed, usually straight, with 1-5 spikelets; pedicels straight; disarticulation above the glumes. |
8-25 cm, lax; branches 1.7-9 cm, usually appressed to ascending, occasionally divergent, with 1-5 spikelets; 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. |
10-28 mm, with 2-5 bisexual florets; rachilla internodes 1.8-2 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 | 4-8 mm long, 1.3-2.2 mm wide, 1-3-veined; upper glumes 5.5-11.5 mm long, 2-3 mm wide, 3-5-veined; lemmas 5.5-18 mm, usually strigose over the veins, hairs longest towards the base, 7-9-veined, veins prominent, apices strongly tapering and acuminate, unawned; paleas 1/2 - 3/4 the length of the lemmas; anthers 1.5-2.5 mm; rudiments 4-9 mm, tapering, resembling the bisexual florets. |
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Caryopses | 4-5 mm. |
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2n | =18. |
= 18. |
Melica bulbosa |
Melica subulata |
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Distribution |
CA; CO; ID; MT; NV; OR; SD; TX; UT; WA; WY; BC; SK
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AK; CA; CO; ID; MT; NV; OR; SD; WA; WY; AB; BC
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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 subulata grows from sea level to 2300 m in mesic, shady woods. Its range extends from the Aleutian Islands of Alaska through British Columbia to California, east to Lawrence County, South Dakota, and into Colorado. (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 | M. subulata var. pammelii, Bromelica subulata |
Name authority | Geyer ex Porter & J.M. Coult. | (Griseb.) Scribn. |
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