Melica stricta var. albicaulis |
Melica stricta |
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rock melicgrass |
nodding melica, rock melic, rock melicgrass, rock oniongrass |
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Habit | Plants densely cespitose, not rhizomatous. | |||||
Culms | 9-85 cm, not forming corms; basal internodes often thickened; internodes smooth. |
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Sheaths | of the lower portion pale. |
scabridulous; ligules 2.5-5 mm; blades 1.5-5 mm wide, abaxial surfaces glabrous, scabridulous, adaxial surfaces sometimes strigose, sometimes glabrous or scabridulous. |
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Panicles | 3-30 cm; branches 0.5-10 cm, appressed, with 1-5 spikelets; pedicels sharply bent below the spikelets; disarticulation below the glumes. |
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Spikelets | 6-23 mm long, 5-13 mm wide, broadly V-shaped when mature, with 2-4 bisexual florets; rachilla internodes 1.8-2.1 mm. |
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Glumes | at least 4 mm wide; paleas about 3/4 the length of the lemmas; anthers 2-3 mm. |
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Lower glumes | 6-16 mm long, 3.5-5 mm wide, 4-7-veined; upper glumes 6-18 mm long, 3-5 mm wide, 5-9-veined; lemmas 6-16 mm, glabrous, scabridulous, 5-9-veined, veins inconspicuous, apices acute, unawned; paleas 1/2 - 3/4 the length of the lemmas; anthers 1-3 mm; rudiments 2-7 mm, resembling the lower florets, acute to acuminate. |
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Caryopses | 4-5 mm. |
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2n | = 18. |
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Melica stricta var. albicaulis |
Melica stricta |
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Distribution |
CA |
CA; NV; OR; UT
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Discussion | Melica stricta var. albicaulis is restricted to the mountains of southern California. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Melica stricta grows from 1200-3350 m on rocky, often dry slopes, sometimes in alpine habitats. Its range extends from Oregon and California to Utah. Boyle (1945) recognized two varieties, more on their marked geographical separation than on their morphological divergence. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Key |
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Source | FNA vol. 24, p. 98. | FNA vol. 24, p. 97. | ||||
Parent taxa | ||||||
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Name authority | Boyle | Bol. | ||||
Web links |