Melica smithii |
Melica subulata |
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mélique de Smith, Smith oniongrass, Smith's melic, Smith's melic grass, Smith's oniongrass |
Alaska melic, Alaska oniongrass, alaskan oniongrass, tapered oniongrass |
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Habit | Plants loosely cespitose, not rhizomatous. | Plants cespitose, rhizomatous. |
Culms | 60-160 cm, thickened basally, sometimes appearing cormous; internodes sometimes pubescent below the nodes. |
55-125 cm, forming corms, corms attached to the rhizomes; internodes scabridulous basally. |
Sheaths | 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. |
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 | 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. |
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 | 12-18 mm, with 3-5 bisexual florets; rachilla internodes 2.5-3 mm. |
10-28 mm, with 2-5 bisexual florets; rachilla internodes 1.8-2 mm. |
Lower glumes | 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. |
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 | = unknown. |
= 18. |
Melica smithii |
Melica subulata |
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Distribution |
ID; MI; MT; OR; SD; WA; WI; WY; AB; BC; ON; QC
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AK; CA; CO; ID; MT; NV; OR; SD; WA; WY; AB; BC
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Discussion | 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 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. 95. | FNA vol. 24, p. 95. |
Parent taxa | ||
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | M. subulata var. pammelii, Bromelica subulata | |
Name authority | (Porter ex A. Gray) Vasey | (Griseb.) Scribn. |
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