Sporobolus virginicus
Sporobolus flexuosus
marine couch, sand couch, seashore dropseed
mesa dropseed
10-65 cm, erect to decumbent.
30-100(120) cm tall, 1-3 mm thick near the base, erect to decumbent.
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 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.
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.
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.
(1.8)2-3.2 mm, yellowish-white to purplish-tinged, sometimes grayish.
1.8-2.5 mm, plumbeous.
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.
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.
not known.
0.6-1 mm, ellipsoid, light brownish to reddish-orange.
= 20, 30.
= 36, 38.
Sporobolus virginicus
Sporobolus flexuosus
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 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.)
LA Plants
MD Biodiversity
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
CA
KS Wildflowers
PNW Herbaria
