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ciliate melic, hairy melic, hairy melicgrass, silky melic, silky-spike melic

bulbous oniongrass, onion grass, western onion grass

Habit Plants cespitose, sometimes shortly rhizomatous. Plants loosely cespitose, rhizomatous.
Culms

20-60(100) cm, not forming corms.

29-100 cm, forming corms, corms almost sessile on the connecting rhizomes;

internodes scabridulous above the nodes.

Sheaths

glabrous or shortly and sparsely pubescent;

ligules 1-4 mm;

blades 7-15 cm long, 1-4 mm wide, usually involute.

usually scabridulous, sometimes sparsely pilose;

ligules 2-6 mm;

blades 1.5-5 mm wide, abaxial surfaces scabridulous, adaxial surfaces with hairs.

Panicles

4-8(25) cm, narrowly cylindrical, lax, pale;

branches 1.5-4 cm, appressed to ascending, with 3-12(15) spikelets;

pedicels sharply bent below the spikelets;

disarticulation below the glumes.

7-30 cm;

branches 2-6.5 cm, appressed, usually straight, with 1-5 spikelets;

pedicels straight;

disarticulation above the glumes.

Spikelets

6-8 mm, with 1 bisexual floret, sometimes purple-tinged.

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.

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.

Lower glumes

4-6 mm long, 1.5-2.5 mm wide, ovate, 1-5-veined, acute;

upper glumes 6-8 mm long, about 1.5 mm wide, lanceolate, acute to acuminate;

lemmas 4-6.5 mm, lanceolate, 7-9-veined, papillose, margins and marginal veins pubescent, hairs 3.5-5 mm, not twisted;

rudiments 1-1.7 mm, ovoid, not resembling the bisexual florets.

2n

=18, 36.

=18.

Melica ciliata

Melica bulbosa

Distribution
from FNA
WA
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA; CO; ID; MT; NV; OR; SD; TX; UT; WA; WY; BC; SK
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Melica ciliata is grown as an ornamental in North America and is not known to have escaped. It is native to Europe, northern Africa, and southwestern Asia, where it grows on damp to somewhat dry soils.

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

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.)

Source FNA vol. 24, p. 100. FNA vol. 24, p. 91.
Parent taxa Poaceae > subfam. Pooideae > tribe Meliceae > Melica Poaceae > subfam. Pooideae > tribe Meliceae > Melica
Sibling taxa
M. altissima, M. aristata, M. bulbosa, M. californica, M. frutescens, M. fugax, M. geyeri, M. harfordii, M. imperfecta, M. montezumae, M. mutica, M. nitens, M. porteri, M. smithii, M. spectabilis, M. stricta, M. subulata, M. torreyana
M. altissima, M. aristata, M. californica, M. ciliata, M. frutescens, M. fugax, M. geyeri, M. harfordii, M. imperfecta, M. montezumae, M. mutica, M. nitens, M. porteri, M. smithii, M. spectabilis, M. stricta, M. subulata, M. torreyana
Synonyms M. bulbosa var. intonsa, M. bulbosa var. inflata, Bromelica bulbosa
Name authority L. Geyer ex Porter & J.M. Coult.
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