The green links below add additional plants to the comparison table. Blue links lead to other Web sites.
enable glossary links

mesa dropseed

purple dropseed

Habit Plants perennial (rarely appearing annual); cespitose, not rhizomatous, bases not hard and knotty. Plants perennial; cespitose, not rhizomatous.
Culms

30-100(120) cm tall, 1-3 mm thick near the base, erect to decumbent.

25-95 cm.

Sheaths

rounded below, smooth or scabridulous, margins sometimes ciliate distally, apices with tufts of hairs, hairs to 4 mm;

ligules 0.5-1 mm;

blades (2)5-24 cm long, 2-4(6) mm wide, ascending or strongly divergent, flat to involute, glabrous abaxially, scabridulous adaxially, margins scabridulous.

rounded below, upper margins sometimes sparsely hispid-ciliate, apices hairy, hairs to 5 mm;

ligules 0.2-0.3 mm;

blades 8-22 cm long, 2-5 mm wide, flat or involute, glabrous abaxially, scabridulous adaxially, margins scabrous, sometimes sparsely hispid.

Panicles

10-30 cm long, 4-12 cm wide, longer than wide, open, subovate to oblong;

rachises drooping or nodding;

lower nodes with 1-2 branches;

primary branches 1-8(12) cm, flexible, diverging at least 70° from the rachis, often strongly reflexed to 130°, tangled with each other and with branches from adjacent panicles;

lower branches no longer than those in the middle, usually included in the uppermost sheath;

secondary branches widely spreading, without spikelets on the lower 1/8 – 1/2;

pulvini pubescent;

pedicels 0.3-3 mm, spreading, scabridulous.

5-30 cm long, 0.4-1.6 cm wide, narrow, contracted;

lower nodes with 3 or 5 branches;

primary branches 0.3-2 cm, appressed or spreading to 20° from the rachis, spikelet-bearing to near the base;

secondary branches appressed;

pedicels 0.2-2.5 mm, appressed, scabridulous.

Spikelets

1.8-2.5 mm, plumbeous.

2.8-3.8 mm, purplish-red.

Glumes

unequal, ovate, membranous;

lower glumes 0.9-1.5 mm;

upper glumes 1.4-2.5 mm, subequal to the florets;

lemmas 1.4-2.5 mm, lanceolate to ovate, membranous, glabrous, acute;

paleas 1.4-2.4 mm, ovate, membranous;

anthers 0.4-0.7 mm, yellow.

unequal, linear-lanceolate to lanceolate or ovate, hyaline to membranous;

lower glumes 0.9-3 mm;

upper glumes 2.9-3.8 mm, subequal to the florets;

lemmas 2.9-3.8 mm, ovate, membranous, glabrous, acute;

paleas 2.9-3.8 mm, ovate, membranous;

anthers 1.5-2 mm, yellowish to purplish.

Fruits

0.6-1 mm, ellipsoid, light brownish to reddish-orange.

1.8-2.3 mm, ellipsoid, somewhat laterally flattened, rugulose, reddish-brown.

2n

= 36, 38.

= 60.

Sporobolus flexuosus

Sporobolus purpurascens

Distribution
from FNA
AZ; CA; CO; KS; MT; NM; NV; TX; UT
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
TX
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Sporobolus flexuosus grows on sandy to gravelly slopes, flats, and roadsides in the southwestern United States and northern Mexico. It is associated with desert scrub, pinyon-juniper woodlands, and yellow pine forests. Its elevational range is 800-2100 m.

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

Sporobolus purpurascens grows in oak scrub, prairie grasslands, and sandy sites near railroad crossings and roadsides, at elevations from 2-300 m. It extends from southern Texas through eastern Mexico, the West Indies, and Central America to Brazil.

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

Source FNA vol. 25, p. 131. FNA vol. 25, p. 133.
Parent taxa Poaceae > subfam. Chloridoideae > tribe Cynodonteae > Sporobolus Poaceae > subfam. Chloridoideae > tribe Cynodonteae > Sporobolus
Sibling taxa
S. airoides, S. buckleyi, S. clandestinus, S. coahuilensis, S. compositus, S. contractus, S. creber, S. cryptandrus, S. curtissii, S. diandrus, S. domingensis, S. fimbriatus, S. floridanus, S. giganteus, S. heterolepis, S. indicus, S. interruptus, S. jacquemontii, S. junceus, S. nealleyi, S. neglectus, S. pinetorum, S. purpurascens, S. pyramidatus, S. silveanus, S. tenuissimus, S. teretifolius, S. texanus, S. vaginiflorus, S. virginicus, S. wrightii
S. airoides, S. buckleyi, S. clandestinus, S. coahuilensis, S. compositus, S. contractus, S. creber, S. cryptandrus, S. curtissii, S. diandrus, S. domingensis, S. fimbriatus, S. flexuosus, S. floridanus, S. giganteus, S. heterolepis, S. indicus, S. interruptus, S. jacquemontii, S. junceus, S. nealleyi, S. neglectus, S. pinetorum, S. pyramidatus, S. silveanus, S. tenuissimus, S. teretifolius, S. texanus, S. vaginiflorus, S. virginicus, S. wrightii
Name authority (Thurb. ex Vasey) Rydb. (Sw.) Ham.
Web links