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.

Aulonemia verrucosa

HABIT Perennial. Culms scandent; 1.5–4 mm diam.; woody; without nodal roots, or rooting from lower nodes. Culm-internodes terete; with small lumen; yellow; papillose; distally glabrous. Lateral branches suffrutescent. Branch complement one, or two, or three. Culm-sheaths 3–5 cm long; brown; glabrous; hairy on margins; concave at apex, or truncate at apex, or convex at apex. Culm-sheath ligule 0.3–0.5 mm high; ciliolate. Culm-sheath blade lanceolate, or narrowly ovate; deciduous; spreading, or reflexed; 0.7–1.2 cm long; 1.5–3 mm wide; pubescent. Leaves 3–5 per branch. Leaf-sheaths striately veined; glabrous on surface. Leaf-sheath oral hairs lacking. Leaf-sheath auricles absent. Ligule a ciliolate membrane; 0.2–0.4 mm long. Collar with external ligule. Leaf-blade base with a brief petiole-like connection to sheath; petiole 0.2–0.5 cm long; petiole pubescent. Leaf-blades ascending, or reflexed; lanceolate; 9–17 cm long; 17–28 mm wide. Leaf-blade surface glabrous, or puberulous; sparsely hairy; hairy abaxially. Leaf-blade margins cartilaginous; scabrous. Leaf-blade apex acuminate.

INFLORESCENCE Inflorescence a panicle; without bracts, or bracteate at pedicel base (0.3–1 mm below spikelet). Peduncle 2–5 cm long; glabrous.

Panicle open; ovate; effuse; 10–22 cm long; 8–15 cm wide. Panicle branches capillary.

Spikelets solitary. Fertile spikelets pedicelled. Pedicels glabrous.

FERTILE SPIKELETS Spikelets comprising 4–6 fertile florets; without rhachilla extension, or with diminished florets at the apex. Spikelets linear; subterete; 40–70(–80) mm long; breaking up at maturity; disarticulating below each fertile floret.

GLUMES Glumes two; 2 empty glumes; persistent; dissimilar; shorter than spikelet; thinner than fertile lemma. Lower glume linear, or lanceolate; 7–12 mm long; membranous; 5–7(–9) -veined. Lower glume apex acute, or acuminate. Upper glume linear, or lanceolate; 9–13 mm long; membranous; 7–9 -veined. Upper glume apex acute, or acuminate.

FLORETS Fertile lemma lanceolate; 13–16 mm long; chartaceous; without keel; 5–7(–9) -veined. Lemma apex acute; awned; 1 -awned. Principal lemma awn 3–6 mm long overall. Palea 8–13 mm long; 2-keeled. Palea keels ciliolate. Apical sterile florets resembling fertile though underdeveloped.

FLOWER Lodicules 3. Anthers 3; 4 mm long. Stigmas 2.

DISTRIBUTION South America: western South America.

NOTES Bambuseae. Londono, Judz. & Clark 2014-.

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