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sugarcane

narrow plumegrass

Habit Plants with short rhizomes. Plants cespitose, rarely stoloniferous.
Culms

3-6 m tall, 2-5 cm thick, clumped, glabrous throughout or nearly so, lower internodes swollen.

0.9-1.8 m;

nodes glabrous or with hairs to 0.5 mm.

Sheaths

sometimes ciliate at the collar margins;

auricles present;

ligules 2-3 mm;

blades 70-150 cm long, 20-60 mm wide, usually glabrous, occasionally with hairs on the adaxial surfaces.

glabrous;

ligules 1-3 mm, with lateral lobes;

blades 18-60 cm long, 5-12 mm wide, glabrous.

Peduncles

20-80 cm, glabrous;

panicles 50-100 cm long, to 20 cm wide, lanceolate;

rachises 30-80 cm, glabrous;

primary branches 10-25 cm, appressed to spreading;

rame internodes 3-6 mm, glabrous.

30-40 cm, glabrous;

panicles 1-2.5 cm wide, linear;

lowest nodes glabrous or sparsely pilose;

rachises 10-35 cm, glabrous or sparsely pubescent;

primary branches 6-18 cm, appressed;

rame internodes 3-5 mm, glabrous.

Pedicels

2-5 mm, glabrous.

3-5 mm, glabrous.

Sessile

spikelets 3-5 mm long, 0.8-0.9 mm wide, white to gray.

spikelets 7-10 mm long, 1.1-1.5 mm wide, brown.

Callus

hairs 6-10 mm, exceeding the spikelets, white;

lower glumes glabrous, 2-4-veined;

upper glumes 3-veined;

lower lemmas 3-4.5 mm, 2-3-veined;

upper lemmas without veins, entire;

awns absent;

lodicule veins not extending into hairlike projections;

anthers 3.

hairs absent or to 2 mm, shorter than the spikelets, straw-colored;

lower glumes scabrous, 5-veined;

lower lemmas 6-8 mm, 2-veined;

upper lemmas 0.9-1 times as long as the lower lemmas, 3-veined, entire;

awns 17-24 mm, terete, straight or curved at the base;

lodicule veins extending into hairlike projections;

anthers 2.

Pedicellate

spikelets similar to the sessile spikelets.

spikelets similar to the sessile spikelets.

2n

= 80.

= 30.

Saccharum officinarum

Saccharum baldwinii

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

Saccharum officinarum is native to tropical Asia and the Pacific islands. It is cultivated for sugar production in various parts of the world, including Texas, Louisiana, and Florida. It is also becoming popular as an ornamental plant for gardens in warmer parts of the contiguous United States, and appears to be established in some parts of the southeastern United States. A number of different, clonally propagated color forms are available. It hybridizes with S. spontaneum (see discussion above).

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

Saccharum baldwinii commonly grows in sandy, shaded river and stream bottoms. It occurs throughout the southeastern United States, but it is not as common as other members of the genus, and is rare or completely absent from higher elevations of the Appalachian Mountains.

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

Source FNA vol. 25, p. 614. FNA vol. 25, p. 614.
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. giganteum, S. ravennae, S. spontaneum
S. alopecuroides, S. bengalense, S. brevibarbe, S. coarctatum, S. giganteum, S. officinarum, S. ravennae, S. spontaneum
Synonyms Erianthus strictus
Name authority L. Spreng.
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