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sugarcane

shortbeard plumegrass

Habit Plants with short rhizomes. Plants rhizomatous.
Culms

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

0.8-2.5 m;

nodes glabrous or pubescent.

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.

not ciliate;

auricles absent;

ligules 1-2 mm;

blades usually 40-60 cm long, 7-25 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.

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 mm, glabrous.

3-4 mm, with hairs.

Sessile

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

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

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 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.

spikelets similar to the sessile spikelets.

2n

= 80.

= 60.

Saccharum officinarum

Saccharum brevibarbe

Distribution
from FNA
AL; FL; LA; MS; TX; PR; Virgin Islands
[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 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 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. 614. 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. giganteum, 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
Name authority L. (Michx.) Pers.
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