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oniongrass, two-flower melic, twoflower melicgrass

Habit Plants not or loosely cespitose, shortly rhizomatous.
Culms

45-100 cm, not forming corms;

internodes sometimes scabridulous above the nodes.

Sheaths

glabrous or pilose;

ligules 0.5-1.5 mm;

blades 1.8-6 mm wide, abaxial surfaces glabrous, scabridulous, adaxial surfaces with hairs.

Panicles

4-25 cm;

branches 3.5-6 cm, appressed to spreading, straight, with 2-5 spikelets;

pedicels sharply bent below the spikelets;

disarticulation below the glumes.

Spikelets

6-11 mm, with (1)2(4) bisexual florets, floret apices at about the same level;

rachilla internodes 1.5-1.7 mm.

Lower

glumes 4.5-8 mm long, 3-4 mm wide, 5-7-veined;

upper glumes 5-9 mm long, 2.5-3.5 mm wide, 5-6-veined;

lemmas 6-11 mm, glabrous or scabrous, indurate, 9-11-veined, veins prominent, apices rounded to acute, unawned;

paleas about 3/4 the length of the lemmas;

anthers 1-3 mm;

rudiments 2-3 mm, clublike, not resembling the bisexual florets, at a sharp angle to the rachilla.

2n

= 18.

Melica mutica

Distribution
from FNA
AL; AR; DC; FL; GA; IA; IL; IN; KY; LA; MD; MS; NC; NJ; OK; SC; TN; TX; VA; WV
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Discussion

Melica mutica grows in moist or dry areas in open woods and thickets, from Iowa and Texas east to Maryland and Florida. It is unique among the North American species in having a clublike rudiment at a sharp angle to the rachilla.

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

Source FNA vol. 24, p. 100.
Parent taxa Poaceae > subfam. Pooideae > tribe Meliceae > Melica
Sibling taxa
M. altissima, M. aristata, M. bulbosa, M. californica, M. ciliata, M. frutescens, M. fugax, M. geyeri, M. harfordii, M. imperfecta, M. montezumae, M. nitens, M. porteri, M. smithii, M. spectabilis, M. stricta, M. subulata, M. torreyana
Name authority Walter
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