Nassella tenuissima
Nassella manicata
fineleaf nassella, finestem needlegrass, finestem tussockgrass, Mexican feather grass, Mexican needlegrass, tussockgrass
Andean tussockgrass, tropical needlegrass
25-100 cm tall, 0.4-0.7(1.1) mm thick, usually erect, basal nodes sometimes geniculate, internodes mostly glabrous, pubescent just below the lower nodes;
nodes 2-4, glabrous.
40-80 cm tall, 1.5-2.5 mm thick, erect, internodes glabrous;
nodes 2-3, pubescent.
glabrous, even on the margins, sometimes scabridulous;
collars glabrous, without tufts of hair at the sides;
ligules 1-5 mm, glabrous, acute;
blades 7-60 cm long, 0.2-1.5 mm wide, usually convolute, stiff, glabrous, scabridulous.
glabrous;
collars mostly glabrous, with tufts of hair at the sides, hairs 0.5-1 mm;
ligules 0.1-0.3 mm, glabrous, truncate;
blades 12-25 cm long, 1.5-2.5 mm wide, flat to convolute, pubescent.
8-50 cm, loosely contracted, often partly enclosed at maturity;
branches 2-8 cm, glabrous;
pedicels 1-11 mm.
10-20 cm, open;
branches 1-3 cm, ascending to somewhat spreading, scabridulous, with 1-8 spikelets;
pedicels 1-8 mm, pubescent.
subequal, 5-13 mm long, 0.5-1.2 mm wide, narrowly lanceolate, glabrous, aristate;
florets (1.5)2.5-3 mm long, about 0.5 mm wide, widest at about midlength, somewhat laterally compressed;
calluses 0.2-0.5 mm, blunt, strigose, hairs reaching to about 1/4 - 1/3 the length of the lemmas;
lemmas finely tuberculate, rounded to the crown, midveins pubescent on the proximal 1/2;
crowns 0.1-0.2 mm long, 0.2-0.25 mm wide, straight-sided, rims with hairs shorter than 0.5 mm;
awns 45-100 mm, almost centric, cernuous throughout, twice-geniculate, usually both geniculations obscure;
anthers 3, 1.2-1.5 mm.
subequal, 10-15 mm long, 1.5-2 mm wide, narrowly lanceolate, 3-veined, keeled, keels scabrous;
florets 6-8 mm long, 0.9-1.1 mm wide, terete, widest near or slightly above midlength;
calluses 1.5-2.5 mm, sharp, strigose;
lemmas papillose-tuberculate, constricted and purplish below the crown, midveins and exposed marginal veins pubescent over the proximal 2/3, glabrous between the veins at maturity;
crowns about 1 mm long, about 0.5 mm wide, conspicuous, more or less straight-sided, purple, rims with 1-1.5 mm hairs;
awns 30-50 mm, clearly twice-geniculate, terminal segment straight;
anthers 3-4 mm in putatively chasmogamous florets, 0.3-0.5 mm in cleistogamous florets, both ranges sometimes present within a panicle.
about 2 mm, linear, dark brown.
about 3 mm.
= 40.
= unknown.
Nassella tenuissima
Nassella manicata
Nassella tenuissima grows on rocky slopes, frequently in oak or pine associations but also in open, exposed grasslands. Its native range extends from the southwestern United States into northern Mexico. It is now also established in the San Francisco Bay area, having been introduced as a garden plant. It is an attractive species, available through some horticultural outlets, but it readily escapes from cultivation into nearby disturbed sites.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Nassella manicata is native to Ecuador, Chile, Argentina, and Uruguay, growing on the foothills of the Andes Mountains. It is established in three California counties, growing in disturbed sites, including grazed meadows and old gold tailings. It has also been recorded from Mississippi; it is not known whether the Mississippi population has persisted.
Nassella manicata resembles N. leucotricha and N. pulchra. It differs from both in its shorter florets and more strongly developed crowns. It was misidentified as Nassella formicarum (Delile) Barkworth in the Jepson Manual (Barkworth 1993).
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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