Melica smithii
Melica californica
mélique de Smith, Smith oniongrass, Smith's melic, Smith's melic grass, Smith's oniongrass
California melic, California melicgrass
60-160 cm, thickened basally, sometimes appearing cormous;
internodes sometimes pubescent below the nodes.
50-130 cm, not forming corms;
lower nodes strigose;
internodes usually smooth, sometimes puberulent below the nodes, lower 2-3 internodes usually swollen.
usually glabrous, sometimes pilose or retrorsely scabrous, particularly at the throat, veins often prominent;
ligules 2-4 mm;
blades 15-25 cm long, 5-12 mm wide, both surfaces usually scabridulous, glabrous, sometimes the adaxial surfaces with hairs.
glabrous or pilose;
ligules 1.5-4 mm;
blades 1.5-5 mm wide, strigose on both surfaces.
12-30 cm;
branches 7-11 cm, spreading to reflexed, with 4-7 spikelets, spikelets restricted to the distal portion, axils frequently with brownish pulvini;
pedicels straight;
disarticulation above the glumes.
4-30 cm;
branches 3-6 cm, appressed, straight, with 4-15 spikelets;
pedicels straight;
disarticulation above the glumes.
12-18 mm, with 3-5 bisexual florets;
rachilla internodes 2.5-3 mm.
5-15 mm, with 2-5 bisexual florets;
rachilla internodes 1.1-1.6 mm.
4.5-7 mm long, 1-1.5 mm wide, 1-3-veined;
upper glumes 6.5-9 mm long, 1.2-1.8 mm wide, 3-5-veined;
lemmas 9.5-12 mm, glabrous or scabrous, 7-veined, apices bifid to emarginate, awned, awns 3-10 mm;
paleas about 2/3 the length of the lemmas;
anthers 1.3-2.5 mm;
rudiments 3.5-6 mm, tapering, resembling the bisexual florets.
3.5-12 mm long, 2.5-3 mm wide, 3-5-veined;
upper glumes 5-13 mm long, 2-2.5 mm wide, 5-7-veined;
lemmas 5-9 mm, glabrous, smooth to scabrous, 7-9-veined, veins inconspicuous, apices rounded to broadly acute, unawned;
paleas about 3/4 the length of the lemmas;
anthers 3, 1.8-3 mm;
rudiments 1.4-3 mm, clublike, not resembling the bisexual florets, truncate to acute.
= unknown.
= 18.
Melica smithii
Melica californica
Melica smithii grows in cool, moist woods from British Columbia and Alberta south to Oregon and Wyoming and, as a disjunct, from the Great Lakes region to western Quebec. It often forms colonies in the eastern portion of its range. Its disjunct distribution pattern is unusual among North America's grasses.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Melica californica grows from sea level to 2100 m, in a wide range of habitats, from dry, rocky, exposed hillsides to moist woods. Its range extends from Oregon to California. It differs from M. bulbosa in its more obtuse spikelets and less strongly colored lemmas, as well as in not having corms.
Melica californica var. nevadensis Boyle supposedly differs from var. californica in having shorter spikelets (averaging 8, rather than 10, mm), more acute glumes and lemmas, blunter rudiments, and in being restricted to the lower Sierra Nevada; the two varieties intergrade, both morphologically and geographically.
Boyle (1945) obtained vigorous sterile hybrids from crosses between M. californica and M. imperfecta, but found no natural hybrids.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
- Local floras:
BC, 
OR, 
WA - Local Web sites:
Flora NW, 
MI Flora, 
PNW Herbaria 
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist (observations)
USDA Plants Database- LBJ Wildflower Center
- SEINet
- Plants of the World Online
- Encyclopedia of Life
- Wikipedia
- Google Image Search
CA
