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basketgrass

Habit Plants annual or perennial.
Culms

10-100 cm, weak, trailing on the ground, branching.

Leaves

cauline;

ligules membranous and ciliate, or of hairs;

blades lanceolate.

Inflorescences

terminal, panicles of unilateral branches, spikelets paired (but the first spikelet sometimes reduced), rachises and branches terminating in a spikelet;

branches 0.1-7 cm, persistent;

disarticulation below the glumes.

Spikelets

dorsally compressed, not sunken into the rachis, lacking subtending bristles, with 2 florets.

Lower glumes

awned;

upper glumes not ciliate on the margins, unawned or with awns shorter than those of the lower glumes, awns of both glumes often becoming viscid;

lower florets sterile or staminate;

lower lemmas acute to shortly awned;

lower paleas present or absent;

upper florets bisexual;

upper lemmas papery to leathery, glabrous, smooth, unawned, white or yellow at maturity;

upper paleas similar to the upper lemmas, x = 9.

Oplismenus

Distribution
from FNA
AL; AR; FL; GA; LA; MD; MO; MS; NC; OK; SC; TX; VA; HI; PR; Virgin Islands
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Oplismenus is a genus of five closely related species that grow in shady, mesic forests of tropical and subtropical regions. One species is native to the Flora region. The awns of most species become viscid at maturity, aiding in fruit dispersal (Davidse 1987).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Source FNA vol. 25, p. 389. Author: J.K. Wipff;.
Parent taxa Poaceae > subfam. Panicoideae > tribe Paniceae
Subordinate taxa
O. hirtellus
Name authority P. Beauv.
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