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Descriptions

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

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

Spartina foliosa

HABIT Perennial; culms solitary, or caespitose. Rhizomes elongated. Culms erect; 100–150 cm long; spongy; rooting from lower nodes. Leaf-sheath oral hairs ciliate. Ligule a fringe of hairs; 1–2 mm long. Leaf-blades flat, or involute; 3–6 mm wide. Leaf-blade surface glabrous. Leaf-blade margins smooth, or scaberulous. Leaf-blade apex acuminate.

INFLORESCENCE Inflorescence composed of racemes; exserted, or embraced at base by subtending leaf.

Racemes 3–25; borne along a central axis; closely spaced; in a multilateral false spike; appressed; unilateral; 2–8 cm long; bearing 8–30 fertile spikelets on each. Central inflorescence axis 12–25 cm long. Rhachis angular; smooth on margins; glabrous on margins; terminating in a spikelet, or barren extension. Spikelet packing broadside to rhachis; regular; 2 -rowed.

Spikelets appressed; solitary. Fertile spikelets sessile.

FERTILE SPIKELETS Spikelets comprising 1 fertile florets; without rhachilla extension. Spikelets oblong; laterally compressed; 8–25 mm long; falling entire.

GLUMES Glumes dissimilar; reaching apex of florets, or exceeding apex of florets. Lower glume linear; 6–12 mm long; 0.5–0.75 length of upper glume; membranous; 1-keeled; 1 -veined. Lower glume primary vein eciliate, or ciliate. Lower glume lateral veins absent. Lower glume surface glabrous, or pilose. Lower glume apex obtuse to acuminate. Upper glume lanceolate; 8–25 mm long; 1–1.2 length of adjacent fertile lemma; herbaceous; 1-keeled; 1–3 -veined. Upper glume primary vein eciliate, or ciliate. Upper glume surface glabrous, or pilose. Upper glume margins eciliate, or ciliate. Upper glume apex obtuse to acuminate.

FLORETS Fertile lemma oblong; 8–20 mm long; herbaceous; keeled; 3 -veined. Lemma surface glabrous, or pilose. Lemma margins eciliate, or ciliate. Lemma apex emarginate, or obtuse. Palea 2 -veined.

FLOWER Lodicules absent. Anthers 3; 3–6 mm long.

DISTRIBUTION North America: southwest USA and Mexico.

NOTES Cynodonteae. Mobberley 1993.

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