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Descriptions

W.D. Clayton, M. Vorontsova, K.T. Harman & H. Williamson

© Copyright The Board of Trustees, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

Pseudanthistiria umbellata

HABIT Annual; mat forming. Culms decumbent; 30–60 cm long; wiry; rooting from lower nodes. Ligule a ciliolate membrane. Leaf-blade base broadly rounded. Leaf-blades lanceolate; 1.5–5 cm long; 3–8 mm wide; flaccid. Leaf-blade surface glabrous, or pilose; sparsely hairy.

INFLORESCENCE Synflorescence compound; fasciculate; 5–20 cm long. Inflorescence composed of racemes; terminal and axillary; subtended by a spatheole; enclosed. Spatheole lanceolate; 1–1.5 cm long; membranous; purple. Peduncle flexuous.

Racemes 1; single; 1 cm long; bearing few fertile spikelets; bearing 2 fertile spikelets on each. Rhachis fragile at the nodes. Rhachis internodes linear.

Spikelets in pairs. Fertile spikelets sessile; 1 in the cluster. Companion sterile spikelets pedicelled; 1 in the cluster. Pedicels linear.

STERILE SPIKELETS Companion sterile spikelets well-developed; containing empty lemmas, or male; lanceolate; 4–6 mm long; longer than fertile; separately deciduous. Companion sterile spikelet callus oblong; 0.5 mm long; truncate. Companion sterile spikelet glumes cartilaginous; muticous. Companion sterile spikelet lemmas 2; enclosed by glumes.

FERTILE SPIKELETS Spikelets comprising 1 basal sterile florets; 1 fertile florets; without rhachilla extension. Spikelets oblong; dorsally compressed; 3–4 mm long; falling entire; deciduous with accessory branch structures. Spikelet callus pilose; base obtuse; attached obliquely.

GLUMES Glumes dissimilar; exceeding apex of florets; firmer than fertile lemma. Lower glume oblong; 1 length of spikelet; cartilaginous; without keels. Upper glume oblong; 1-keeled.

FLORETS Basal sterile florets barren; without significant palea. Lemma of lower sterile floret oblong; 1 mm long; hyaline; 0 -veined; without midvein; without lateral veins. Fertile lemma oblong. Lemma apex entire; awned; 1 -awned. Principal lemma awn geniculate; 10–20 mm long overall; with twisted column. Column of lemma awn glabrous. Palea absent or minute.

DISTRIBUTION Asia-tropical: India.

NOTES Andropogoneae. WDC.

Please cite this publication as detailed in How to Cite Version: 3rd February 2016.