Sporobolus virginicus
Sporobolus creber
marine couch, sand couch, seashore dropseed
slender dropseed
10-65 cm, erect to decumbent.
6.5-100 cm.
overlapping, margins ciliate, apices with tufts of hairs, hairs to 2 mm;
ligules 0.1-0.4 mm;
blades usually conspicuously distichous, 4-16 cm long, 2-5 mm wide, flat to loosely involute, glabrous abaxially, scabridulous adaxially, margins scabridulous.
rounded, margins ciliate, apices with tufts of hairs to 2 mm;
ligules about 0.5 mm, the sides with a few hairs to 1.5 mm;
blades 7-30 cm long, 1-2(3) mm wide, flat, becoming involute, tapering to a fine point.
3-10 cm long, 0.4-1.6 cm wide, contracted, spikelike, dense;
primary branches 0.5-2 cm, appressed, spikelet-bearing to the base;
pedicels 0.2-1.4 mm, appressed.
20-40 cm long, 0.4-1 cm wide, narrowly contracted, sometimes spikelike;
primary branches appressed to strongly ascending, spikelet-bearing to the base, lower branches 1.5-3 cm, much shorter than the adjacent internodes, usually appressed;
pedicels 0.1-0.5 mm.
(1.8)2-3.2 mm, yellowish-white to purplish-tinged, sometimes grayish.
1.1-1.5 mm, dark green.
subequal, ovate-oblong, membranous;
lower glumes 1.5-2.4 mm;
upper glumes 1.8-3(3.2) mm;
lemmas 2.1-3 mm, ovate to lanceolate, membranous, glabrous, acute;
paleas 2.1-3 mm, ovate, membranous;
anthers 3, 1-1.7 mm, yellowish.
obtuse, often erose;
lower glumes 0.4-0.5 mm;
upper glumes 0.5-0.6 mm, less than 2/3 as long as the florets;
lemmas 1.1-1.5 mm, glabrous, 1-veined, obtuse;
paleas similar to the lemmas or slightly longer;
anthers 2, 0.4-0.6 mm.
not known.
0.7-0.8 mm, often adhering to the floret at maturity, quadrangular to somewhat turbinate, red-brown, apices truncate and concave.
= 20, 30.
= unknown.
Sporobolus virginicus
Sporobolus creber
Sporobolus virginicus grows on sandy beaches, sand dunes, and in saline habitats, primarily along the south-eastern coast, occasionally inland. Its range extends through Mexico and Central America to Peru, Chile, and Brazil. No fruits of this species have been found despite examination of several natural populations and over 200 herbarium specimens.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Sporobolus creber is an Australian species that was recently found growing spontaneously on a ranch in Glenn County, California. It is related to S. indicus, but differs in its widely spaced, closely appressed, and densely spikeleted branches.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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