Melica montezumae |
Melica subulata |
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Montezuma melic, Montezuma melicgrass |
Alaska melic, Alaska oniongrass, alaskan oniongrass, tapered oniongrass |
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Habit | Plants cespitose, not rhizomatous. | Plants cespitose, rhizomatous. |
Culms | 14-100 cm, not forming corms; internodes smooth. |
55-125 cm, forming corms, corms attached to the rhizomes; internodes scabridulous basally. |
Sheaths | glabrous or scabrous; ligules 2.5-7 mm; blades 1.2-3 mm wide, abaxial surfaces glabrous, scabridulous, adaxial surfaces puberulent. |
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 | 5-25 cm; branches 1-5 cm, appressed to reflexed, straight, with 2-9 spikelets; pedicels sharply bent below the spikelets; disarticulation below 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 | 6-8 mm, with 1 bisexual floret. |
10-28 mm, with 2-5 bisexual florets; rachilla internodes 1.8-2 mm. |
Lower glumes | 5.5-8 mm long, 1.8-3 mm wide, 5-veined; upper glumes 5-8 mm long, 0.7-1.5 mm wide, 3-5-veined; lemmas 4.5-8 mm, 9-15-veined, veins prominent, tuberculate, proximal portion with flat, twisted hairs, distal portion glabrous, chartaceous, apices emarginate to acute, unawned; paleas about 3/4 the length of the lemmas; anthers 1.5-3 mm; rudiments 2-3 mm, obovoid or obconic, clublike, not resembling the bisexual florets. |
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. |
Caryopses | 4-5 mm. |
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2n | = 18. |
= 18. |
Melica montezumae |
Melica subulata |
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Distribution |
TX |
AK; CA; CO; ID; MT; NV; OR; SD; WA; WY; AB; BC
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Discussion | Melica montezumae grows primarily in shady locations in the mountains of western Texas and adjacent Mexico. (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. 98. | FNA vol. 24, p. 95. |
Parent taxa | ||
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | M. subulata var. pammelii, Bromelica subulata | |
Name authority | Piper | (Griseb.) Scribn. |
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