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Electronic Flora of South Australia genus Fact Sheet

Family: Poaceae
Eragrostis

Citation: Wolf, Gen. Pl. 23 (1776).

Derivation: Prepared by M. Lazarides

Synonymy: Not Applicable

Common name: Lovegrasses.

Description:
Annuals or perennials; culms erect, terete, glabrous, smooth; leaves strongly nerved, sometimes glandular; blades linear, finely acuminate; sheaths bearded at the orifice; ligule ciliate or sometimes membranous; collar glabrous.

Inflorescence an open, contracted or spike-like panicle; axis and divisions glabrous or scabrous, the axis often ribbed, the latter compressed or triquetrous; axillary panicles sometimes present; spikelets solitary, laterally compressed, awnless, few- to many-flowered, pedicel rhachilla jointed between the florets or persistent, flexuose, glabrous, smooth, flattened or subterete florets usually bisexual and maturing upwards from the base of the spikelet; glumes usually decidous, membranous, keeled, glabrous, entire, 1-nerved, shorter than the florets; lemmas deciduous, membranous, keeled, glabrous, entire, 3-nerved; lateral nerves usually prominent, closer to the margin than to the mid-nerve and reaching the margin or almost so; paleas persistent, membranous to hyaline 2-keeled, glabrous, subequal in length to the lemmas; keels scaberulous, rarely winged or thickened, with flaps usually narrower than the palea body; anthers 3 or sometimes 2; grain compressed or terete usually obtuse to truncate at the apex and base, plano- or concavo-convex in profile, polished or reticulate on the surface.

Distribution:  About 300 species, cosmopolitan.

Biology: No text

Key to Species:
21. Annuals; anthers up to 0.3 mm long; glumes deciduous; rhachilla persistent; lateral nerves on the lemma closer to the margin than to the mid-nerve; grain grooved, striate-reticulate
E. mexicana 18.
20. Spikelet up to 1.5 mm wide; rhachilla persistent; anthers up to 0.3 mm long
 
25. Palea deciduous; lemma usually scabrous on the surface, the lateral nerves often faint and about half as long as the lemma itself
E. leptocarpa 17.
25. Palea persistent; lemma smooth on the surface, the lateral nerves prominent and more or less as long as the lemma itself
E. parviflora 20.

Author: Not yet available


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