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GrassBase - The Online World Grass Flora
Descriptions
W.D. Clayton, M. Vorontsova, K.T. Harman & H. Williamson
© Copyright The Board of Trustees, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
Sarocalamus spanostachyus
HABIT Perennial; culms solitary. Rhizomes elongated; leptomorph. Culms erect; 100–350 cm long; 6–12 mm diam.; woody. Culm-internodes terete; hollow; 13–18 cm long; yellow; smooth; distally mealy. Culm-nodes swollen. Lateral branches dendroid. Branch complement two, or three. Culm-sheaths persistent; 10–14.5 cm long; 4 times as long as wide; yellow; glabrous, or pubescent; glabrous on margins; without auricles; glabrous on shoulders, or ciliate on shoulders; shoulders with 4–6 mm long hairs. Culm-sheath ligule 1 mm high. Culm-sheath blade lanceolate; erect, or spreading; 1.2–4.5 cm long; 5–7.5 mm wide. Leaves 2–4 per branch. Leaf-sheaths 1.7–4.2 cm long; glabrous on surface; outer margin glabrous. Leaf-sheath oral hairs scanty; 2–5 mm long. Leaf-sheath auricles absent. Ligule an eciliate membrane; 0.5 mm long; truncate. Leaf-blade base cuneate; with a brief petiole-like connection to sheath; petiole 0.1 cm long. Leaf-blades lanceolate; 3.5–6.7 cm long; 4–7.5 mm wide. Leaf-blade venation with 4–6 secondary veins; with obscure cross veins. Leaf-blade surface glabrous. Leaf-blade margins scaberulous. Leaf-blade apex acuminate.
INFLORESCENCE Inflorescence composed of racemes; subtended by a spatheole.
Racemes 1; single; bearing few fertile spikelets; bearing 2–3 fertile spikelets on each.
Spikelets solitary. Fertile spikelets pedicelled. Pedicels 2–6 mm long.
FERTILE SPIKELETS Spikelets comprising 4–6 fertile florets; with diminished florets at the apex. Spikelets oblong; laterally compressed; 18–30 mm long; breaking up at maturity; disarticulating below each fertile floret. Rhachilla internodes 3.5–5 mm long; pubescent.
GLUMES Glumes persistent; similar; shorter than spikelet. Lower glume ovate; 1–1.6 mm long; chartaceous. Lower glume surface glabrous. Lower glume apex acute. Upper glume ovate; 3–9 mm long; chartaceous; 3–5 -veined. Upper glume apex setaceously attenuate.
FLORETS Fertile lemma ovate; 7–10 mm long; chartaceous; purple; 5–7 -veined. Lemma surface glabrous, or puberulous. Lemma apex setaceously attenuate. Palea 5–6.5 mm long. Palea keels eciliate. Apical sterile florets resembling fertile though underdeveloped.
FLOWER Lodicules 3; 0.8 mm long; ciliate. Anthers 3; 3.5–4.5 mm long; purple. Stigmas 3. Ovary glabrous.
FRUIT Caryopsis with adherent pericarp; apex unappendaged.
DISTRIBUTION Asia-temperate: China.
NOTES Arundinarieae. Yi 2002.
Please cite this publication as detailed in How to Cite Version: 3rd February 2016.
