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Electronic Flora of South Australia genus Fact Sheet

Family: Poaceae
Diplachne

Citation: P. Beauv., Agrost. 80 ( 1812).

Derivation: Greek diploos, double; achne, a glume (lemma); the lemma is 2-lobed.

Synonymy: Not Applicable

Common name: Beetle-grasses.

Description:
Usually tufted perennials; leaf blade flat or involute; ligule membranous, sometimes very small.

Inflorescence a panicle of long slender simple spike-like branches; spikelets dorsally compressed, cylindrical, subsessile, several-flowered, the uppermost flowers barren, the rhachilla disarticulating; glumes subequal, hyaline, l-nerved (keeled), persistent, obtuse or minutely notched, much shorter than the florets; lemmas membranous, rounded or flat on the back, closely imbricate, 3-nerved with the 2 lateral nerves near the margin, notched at the summit and with a short mucro rising between the lobes; palea rather broad, flat.

Distribution:  15 species from most of the world; 2 in Australia. (C. A. Gardner (1952) Flora of Western Australia 1; B. K. Simon (1982) Aust. Syst. Bot. Soc. Newsl. 32:10-12.)

Biology: No text

Key to Species:
1. Spikelets 8-20 mm long, 8-14-flowered
D. fusca 1.
1. Spikelets scarcely c. 8 mm long; usually 5- or 6-flowered
D. parviflora 2.

Author: Not yet available


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