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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.
Myriocladus simplex
HABIT Perennial; caespitose. Rhizomes short; pachymorph. Culms erect; 45–300 cm long. Culm-internodes alternately elongated and bunched; terete. Lateral branches lacking, or sparse; arising from upper culm. Leaf-sheaths wider than blade at the collar; glabrous on surface, or puberulous. Leaf-sheath oral hairs ciliate. Ligule an eciliate membrane; 1 mm long; pubescent on abaxial surface. Leaf-blade base without a false petiole. Leaf-blades lanceolate; 5–7 cm long; 5–10 mm wide; coriaceous. Leaf-blade margins smooth, or scaberulous.
INFLORESCENCE Inflorescence composed of racemes.
Racemes 3–10; borne along a central axis; ascending; unilateral; 7–13 cm long. Central inflorescence axis 10–20 cm long; glabrous. Rhachis glabrous on surface.
Spikelets solitary. Fertile spikelets pedicelled. Pedicels oblong.
FERTILE SPIKELETS Spikelets comprising 1 basal sterile florets; 1–2 fertile florets; with a barren rhachilla extension. Spikelets elliptic; laterally compressed; 5–6 mm long; breaking up at maturity; disarticulating below each fertile floret. Rhachilla internodes 0.5 mm long.
GLUMES Glumes persistent; similar; shorter than spikelet; thinner than fertile lemma. Lower glume lanceolate; 2.8–4 mm long. Lower glume margins ciliolate. Upper glume lanceolate; 4.5–6 mm long; membranous; without keels. Upper glume primary vein thickened. Upper glume margins ciliolate. Upper glume apex obtuse; muticous, or mucronate.
FLORETS Basal sterile florets barren; without significant palea; persisting on inflorescence. Lemma of lower sterile floret similar to upper glume; ovate; 5–6 mm long; membranous; ciliolate on margins; obtuse. Fertile lemma elliptic; 5–6.3 mm long; coriaceous; without keel. Lemma midvein thickened. Lemma margins ciliolate; hairy above. Lemma apex acute. Palea 5.8–7 mm long. Palea surface pubescent; hairy on back; hairy above. Palea apex pubescent.
FLOWER Lodicules 3. Anthers 3. Stigmas 2.
FRUIT Caryopsis with adherent pericarp.
DISTRIBUTION South America: northern South America.
NOTES Bambuseae. Swallen 1996.
Please cite this publication as detailed in How to Cite Version: 3rd February 2016.