Southern Wetland Flora
Field Office Guide to Plant Species
Oplismenus hirtellus (L.) Beauv.
- Family: Grass (Poaceae)
- Flowering: July-October
- Field Marks: This distinctive grass is recognized by its short leaves and its slender racemes of awned spikelets which are not crowded.
- Habitat: Rich woods, swamps, along streams, low hammocks.
- Habit: Perennial grass, rooting at the nodes.
- Stems: Creeping, very slender, usually smooth.
- Leaves: Alternate, simple, lanceolate, smooth or short-hairy, up to 3 inches long, up to 3/4 inch wide; ligule fringed.
- Flowers: Borne in spikelets, the spikelets borne in pairs in slender racemes, not crowded; spikelets 2-flowered, short-hairy, awned.
- Sepals: 0.
- Petals: 0.
- Stamens: 3.
- Pistils: Ovary superior.
- Grains: Small, smooth.
Previous Species -- Mexican Sprangle-top (Leptochloa uninervia)
Return to Species List -- Group 2
Next Species -- Witchgrass (Panicum capillare)
