Melica mutica |
Melica geyeri |
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oniongrass, two-flower melic, twoflower melicgrass |
Geyer's onion grass |
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Habit | Plants not or loosely cespitose, shortly rhizomatous. | Plants cespitose, rhizomatous. | ||||
Culms | 45-100 cm, not forming corms; internodes sometimes scabridulous above the nodes. |
65-200 cm, glabrous, forming corms, corms sessile on the rhizomes; internodes smooth. |
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Sheaths | glabrous or pilose; ligules 0.5-1.5 mm; blades 1.8-6 mm wide, abaxial surfaces glabrous, scabridulous, adaxial surfaces with hairs. |
scabridulous to scabrous, sometimes sparsely pilose, particularly at the throat and collar; ligules 0.8-5 mm; blades 2-8 mm wide, abaxial surfaces scabridulous, adaxial surfaces with hairs. |
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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. |
10-30 cm; branches 3-11 cm, divergent to reflexed, flexuous, with 1-6 spikelets; pedicels straight; disarticulation above the glumes. |
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Spikelets | 6-11 mm, with (1)2(4) bisexual florets, floret apices at about the same level; rachilla internodes 1.5-1.7 mm. |
8-24 mm, with 4-7 bisexual florets, base of the distal florets exposed at anthesis; rachilla internodes 2-3 mm, not swollen when fresh, not wrinkled when dry. |
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Glumes | usually less than 1/2 the length of the spikelets; lower glumes 3.5-7 mm long, 1.5-2 mm wide, 5-9-veined; upper glumes 5-11 mm long, 2-2.5 mm wide, 5-11-veined; lemmas 7.5-12.5 mm, glabrous or scabrous, 7-veined, veins inconspicuous, apices rounded to acute, sometimes toothed, unawned or awned, awns to 2 mm; paleas about as long as the lemmas; anthers 3, 2.5-4 mm; rudiments 3-7 mm, tapering, resembling the bisexual florets. |
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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. |
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Caryopses | 3-4 mm. |
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2n | = 18. |
=18. |
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Melica mutica |
Melica geyeri |
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Distribution |
AL; AR; DC; FL; GA; IA; IL; IN; KY; LA; MD; MS; NC; NJ; OK; SC; TN; TX; VA; WV
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CA; MT; NV; OR; BC
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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.) |
Melica geyeri grows to 2000 m, primarily in dry, open woods, in Oregon and California. Its large size and open panicle distinguish M. geyeri from most other North American species of Melica. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Key |
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Source | FNA vol. 24, p. 100. | FNA vol. 24, p. 93. | ||||
Parent taxa | Poaceae > subfam. Pooideae > tribe Meliceae > Melica | Poaceae > subfam. Pooideae > tribe Meliceae > Melica | ||||
Sibling taxa | ||||||
Subordinate taxa | ||||||
Name authority | Walter | Munro Munro | ||||
Web links |