Melinis minutiflora |
Melinis nerviglumis |
|
---|---|---|
molasses grass |
pink crystal |
|
Habit | Plants perennial; cespitose; aromatic. | Plants perennial; cespitose. |
Culms | (50)80-150 cm, branching and sprawling, often becoming matted, usually rooting at the lower nodes; upper nodes appressed pubescent; internodes glabrous basally, appressed pubescent distally. |
(25)40-120(150) cm. |
Sheaths | densely tomentose, hairs 0.5-5.2 mm, spreading, papillose-based, often sticky and smelling of linseed oil; ligules of hairs, 1-2 mm; blades 3.5-19 cm long, 4-14 mm wide, flat, pubescent, hairs sometimes papillose-based. |
|
Leaf | sheaths not strongly overlapping; blades (3)1-30(44) cm long, (1.3)2-3.5(4.5) mm wide, rolled. |
|
Panicles | (4.5)7-20 cm long, 1-9.5 cm wide, narrowly ovate; primary branches to 8 cm; pedicels usually shorter than the spikelets, glabrous, scabridulous. |
contracted. |
Spikelets | 1.7-2.4 mm, usually purplish; calluses glabrous. |
3.2-5.7 mm long, 2 mm wide, often densely covered with hairs, hairs to 4 mm, white or pink to purple. |
Glumes | separated by 0.3(0.6) mm; lower glumes about 0.5 mm, awns 1-2(3) mm. |
|
Lower glumes | absent or to 0.3 mm, glabrous, scabridulous; upper glumes 1.6-2.4 mm, glabrous, unawned, sometimes muticous; lower florets sterile; lower lemmas bilobed, lobes 0.2-0.7 mm, unawned or awned, awns to 18 mm; lower paleas absent; upper lemmas 1.4-1.9 mm, glabrous; upper paleas 1.5-1.9 mm, usually slightly longer than the upper lemmas; anthers 3, 1-1.5 mm, reddish-brown to orange. |
|
Caryopses | 0.9-1.2 mm long, 0.3-0.4 mm wide. |
|
Pedicels | scabrous, with hairs to 7 mm. |
|
2n | = 36. |
= 36. |
Melinis minutiflora |
Melinis nerviglumis |
|
Distribution |
FL; HI; PR |
|
Discussion | Melinis minutiflora is native to Africa, but has been introduced throughout the tropics as a forage crop. It is now regarded as a serious weed in many places. In the Flora region, it is only known to be established in southern Florida. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
In its native southern Africa, Melinis nerviglumis flowers from November to September [sic] (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 25, p. 490. | FNA vol. 25, p. added post-publication. |
Parent taxa | ||
Sibling taxa | ||
Name authority | P. Beauv. | (Franch.) Zizka |
Web links |