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Descriptions

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

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

Themeda tremula

HABIT Perennial. Culms decumbent; slender; 15–120 cm long; without nodal roots, or rooting from lower nodes. Ligule a ciliolate membrane. Leaf-blades 8–30 cm long; 3–8 mm wide.

INFLORESCENCE Synflorescence compound; fasciculate; 5–30 cm long. Inflorescence composed of racemes; terminal and axillary; subtended by a spatheole; enclosed. Spatheole lanceolate; 1–2 cm long; scarious; brown, or grey; without tubercles, or tuberculate; glabrous, or pilose.

Racemes 1; single; oblong; 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 oblong; 0.5 mm long.

STERILE SPIKELETS Basal sterile spikelets well-developed; 4 in number; forming an involucre about the fertile; subsessile; elliptic; 5.5–7.5 mm long; larger than fertile. Basal sterile spikelet glumes tuberculate; pilose, or villous; lower glume muticous.

Companion sterile spikelets well-developed; male; lanceolate; 4–6.5 mm long; longer than fertile; separately deciduous. Companion sterile spikelet callus linear. Companion sterile spikelet glumes tuberculate; pilose, or villous. Companion sterile spikelet lemmas 2; enclosed by glumes.

FERTILE SPIKELETS Spikelets comprising 1 basal sterile florets; 1 fertile florets; without rhachilla extension. Spikelets elliptic; subterete; 3–3.5 mm long; falling entire; deciduous with accessory branch structures. Spikelet callus oblong; bearded; base obtuse; attached obliquely. Spikelet callus hairs red.

GLUMES Glumes dissimilar; exceeding apex of florets; firmer than fertile lemma. Lower glume oblong; 1 length of spikelet; coriaceous; without keels. Lower glume surface with a longitudinal median groove; pubescent. Lower glume hairs red. Lower glume apex obtuse. Upper glume oblong.

FLORETS Basal sterile florets barren; without significant palea. Lemma of lower sterile floret lanceolate; hyaline. Fertile lemma linear; hyaline; without keel; 1 -veined. Lemma apex entire; awned; 1 -awned. Principal lemma awn apical; geniculate; 15–35 mm long overall; with twisted column. Column of lemma awn puberulous. 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.