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

Porter melic, Porter's melic, Porter's melicgrass

Habit Plants cespitose, sometimes shortly rhizomatous. Plants not or loosely cespitose, shortly rhizomatous.
Culms

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

55-100 cm, not forming corms;

internodes smooth, basal internodes not thickened.

Sheaths

glabrous or shortly and sparsely pubescent;

ligules 1-4 mm;

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

often scabrous on the keels, otherwise smooth;

ligules 1-7 mm;

blades 2-5 mm wide, both surfaces glabrous, scabridulous.

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.

13-25 cm;

branches 1-9 cm, straight and appressed or flexible and ascending to strongly divergent, with 1-12 spikelets;

pedicels sharply bent below the spikelets;

disarticulation below the glumes.

Spikelets

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

8-16 mm long, 1.5-5 mm wide, parallel-sided when mature, with 2-5 bisexual florets;

rachilla internodes 1.9-2.1 mm.

Glumes

green, pale, or purplish-tinged;

lower glumes 3.5-6 mm long, 2-3 mm wide, 3-5-veined;

upper glumes 5-8 mm long, 2-3 mm wide, 5-veined;

lemmas 6-10 mm, glabrous, chartaceous on the distal 1/3, 5-11-veined, veins conspicuous, apices rounded to acute, unawned;

paleas about 2/3 the length of the lemmas;

anthers 1-2.5 mm;

rudiments 1.8-5 mm, acute to acuminate, resembling the bisexual florets.

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 porteri

Distribution
from FNA
WA
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AZ; CO; KS; NM; TX; UT
[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 porteri grows on rocky slopes and in open woods, often near streams. It grows from Colorado and Arizona to central Texas and northern Mexico. Living plants are sometimes confused with Bouteloua curtipendula; the similarity is superficial.

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

Key
1. Panicle branches flexible, ascending to strongly divergent; glumes purplish-tinged
var. laxa
1. Panicle branches straight, appressed; glumes green or pale
var. porteri
Source FNA vol. 24, p. 100. FNA vol. 24, p. 98.
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. bulbosa, M. californica, M. ciliata, M. frutescens, M. fugax, M. geyeri, M. harfordii, M. imperfecta, M. montezumae, M. mutica, M. nitens, M. smithii, M. spectabilis, M. stricta, M. subulata, M. torreyana
Subordinate taxa
M. porteri var. laxa, M. porteri var. porteri
Name authority L. Scribn.
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