Southern Wetland Flora
Field Office Guide to Plant Species
Coelorachis cylindrica (Michx.) Nash
- Family: Grass (Poaceae)
- Flowering: June-October
- Field Marks: Jointgrasses are distinguished by their jointed, cylindric spikes. The pitted jointgrass differs from the others by hairy glumes that are usually pitted.
- Habitat: Moist to dry sites such as flatwoods, prairies, fields, roadsides, and ditches.
- Habit: Perennial grass with short rhizomes.
- Stems: Upright, unbranched, smooth, up to 3 feet tall.
- Leaves: Elongated and very narrow, smooth or sparsely hairy.
- Flowers: Borne in spikelets, the spikelets arranged in jointed cylindric spikes, the base of the spikes often enclosed by the sheath.
- Spikelets: Tightly fitting into a hollow in the rachis; glumes usually pitted and hairy.
- Sepals: 0.
- Petals: 0.
- Stamens: 3.
- Pistils: Ovary superior.
- Notes: This jointgrass is sometimes known as Manisurus cylindrica. The pits on the glumes are not always apparent.
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