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sugarcane plumegrass

shortbeard plumegrass

Habit Plants rhizomatous. Plants rhizomatous.
Culms

1-2.5 m;

nodes sericeous, hairs to 5 mm.

0.8-2.5 m;

nodes glabrous or pubescent.

Sheaths

glabrate or glabrous;

auricles absent;

ligules 2-6 mm;

blades usually 35-70 cm long, 8-30 mm wide, adaxial surfaces glabrous or pilose.

not ciliate;

auricles absent;

ligules 1-2 mm;

blades usually 40-60 cm long, 7-25 mm wide, glabrous.

Peduncles

40-80 cm, pilose;

panicles 6-15 cm wide, oblong or lanceolate;

rachises 15-30 cm, pilose;

lowest nodes densely pilose;

primary branches 2-13 cm, ascending or appressed to the rachises;

rame internodes 2-5.5 mm, pilose.

45-75 cm, usually glabrous, occasionally pubescent or minutely pilose;

panicles 3-10 cm wide, linear or oblong;

rachises (10)30-50 cm, glabrous or sparsely pilose;

lowest nodes glabrous or sparsely pilose;

primary branches 7-14 cm, appressed;

rame internodes 4-6 mm, with hairs.

Pedicels

2.5-5 mm, pilose.

3-4 mm, with hairs.

Sessile

spikelets 4.2-6 mm long, 0.8-1.1 mm wide, straw-colored.

spikelets 6.5-10.5 mm long, 1.2-1.5 mm wide, purple or straw-colored.

Callus

hairs (7)15-20(25) mm, longer than the spikelets, straw-colored or brown;

glumes usually glabrous;

lower glumes smooth, indistinctly 5-veined;

lower lemmas 3-5 mm, without veins;

upper lemmas 2.5-3.5 mm, 1-veined, entire;

awns 12-26 mm, straight or curved, terete basally;

lodicule veins sometimes extending into hairlike projections;

anthers 2.

hairs 3-7 mm, from shorter than to equaling the spikelets, white to straw-colored or brown;

lower glumes 5-veined, smooth basally, scabrous distally;

lower lemmas 5.5-8 mm, not or indistinctly veined, initially entire, sometimes becoming bifid, teeth 2-2.5 mm;

upper lemmas 5.5-8 mm, 0.9-1 times as long as the lower lemmas, 3-veined, entire or bifid;

awns 10-22 mm, always flattened below, sometimes spirally coiled;

lodicule veins sometimes extending as hairlike projections;

anthers 2.

Pedicellate

spikelets similar to the sessile spikelets, except frequently pilose.

spikelets similar to the sessile spikelets.

2n

= 30, 60, 90.

= 60.

Saccharum giganteum

Saccharum brevibarbe

Distribution
from FNA
AL; AR; DC; DE; FL; GA; IL; KY; LA; MD; MO; MS; NC; NJ; NY; OK; PA; SC; TN; TX; VA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AL; AR; DE; FL; GA; IL; KY; LA; MD; MS; NC; OK; SC; TN; TX; VA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Saccharum giganteum grows in wet soils of bogs, swales, and swamps. Its range extends from the eastern and southeastern United States to Central America. It is a polymorphic, primarily chasmogamous species that intergrades morphologically with the primarily cleistogamous S. trinii (Hack.) Renvoize in Central America. The combination of long callus hairs and straight awns distinguishes it from all other species of Saccharum in the Flora region.

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

Saccharum brevibarbe grows only in the southeastern United States.

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

Key
1. Awns 15-22 mm long, straight or sinuous at the base; upper lemmas of the sessile spikelets entire at maturity
var. brevibarbe
1. Awns 10-18 mm long, spirally coiled at the base, usually with 2-4 coils; upper lemmas of the sessile spikelets bifid at maturity, teeth about 2-2.5 mm long
var. contortum
Source FNA vol. 25, p. 611. FNA vol. 25, p. 612.
Parent taxa Poaceae > subfam. Panicoideae > tribe Andropogoneae > Saccharum Poaceae > subfam. Panicoideae > tribe Andropogoneae > Saccharum
Sibling taxa
S. alopecuroides, S. baldwinii, S. bengalense, S. brevibarbe, S. coarctatum, S. officinarum, S. ravennae, S. spontaneum
S. alopecuroides, S. baldwinii, S. bengalense, S. coarctatum, S. giganteum, S. officinarum, S. ravennae, S. spontaneum
Subordinate taxa
S. brevibarbe var. brevibarbe, S. brevibarbe var. contortum
Synonyms Erianthus giganteus
Name authority (Walter) Pers. (Michx.) Pers.
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