Sporobolus virginicus
Sporobolus purpurascens
marine couch, sand couch, seashore dropseed
purple dropseed
10-65 cm, erect to decumbent.
25-95 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 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.
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.
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.
(1.8)2-3.2 mm, yellowish-white to purplish-tinged, sometimes grayish.
2.8-3.8 mm, purplish-red.
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, 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.
not known.
1.8-2.3 mm, ellipsoid, somewhat laterally flattened, rugulose, reddish-brown.
= 20, 30.
= 60.
Sporobolus virginicus
Sporobolus purpurascens
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 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.)
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