Aquatic and Wetland Vascular Plants of the Northern Great Plains
63. Poaceae, the Grass Family
12. Eragrostis Beauv. -- Lovegrass2. Eragrostis reptans (Michx.) Nees
Similar to the preceding in habit but the plants dioecious; culms freely rooting at the nodes, the erect branches 3-25 cm tall, usually finely puberulent with gland-tipped hairs, seldom glabrate. Leaves mostly in tufts at the nodes; blades flat, 1-4 cm long, 1-3 mm wide, the blades and sheaths similarly short glandular-pubescent to seldom glabrate; ligule a fringe of hairs ca. 0.5 mm long. Panicles numerous, capitate, globose to oblong, mostly 1-3 cm long. Spikelets often nearly sessile in the headlike panicles, mostly many-flowered, sometimes purplish, narrowly oblong, (3)5-15 mm long, sometimes 1 or both glumes early deciduous, especially in male plants, lemmas persistent on male plants, eventually deciduous in the female; staminate spikelets with the first glume 1-nerved, 1-3.5 mm long, the second glume 1(3)-nerved, 2-4 mm long, the lemmas 2-4 mm long, acute; anthers 1.4-2.3 mm long; pistillate spikelets with the first glume (0)1-nerved, 0.2-1.5 mm long, the lemmas 1.5-3.2 mm long, acute to acuminate, sometimes awn-tipped. Grain brownish, obovoid, 0.4-0.7 mm long. Late Jul--Sep. Same habitats as the preceding; uncommon and scattered from ec SD to s NE; (KY to SD, s to LA, TX, and into Mex.; also FL).
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Return to Family -- Poaceae - The Grass Family
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