keys to the vascular plants of east texas - Botanical Research ...

MICROSTEGIUM/POACEAE
977
AA variable C3 genus of 60–84 species (depending on inclusion of segregates) of temperate
regions excluding Australia (Mejía-Saulés & Bisby 2000; Barkworth ined.). The genus is unusual
in having some species (subgenus Melica) with disarticulation below the glumes and
others (subgenus Bromelica) with disarticulation above the glumes (Clayton & Renvoize 1986;
Yatskievych 1999). More specifically, “The North American species fall into two groups. In one,
the pedicels are sharply bent and the spikelets disarticulate below the glumes; in the other, the
pedicels are straight and disarticulation is above the glumes” (Barkworth ined.). (Greek: meli,
honey, classical name for some plant, possibly a species of sorghum with sweet sap (Barkworth
ined.), taken up by Linnaeus for this genus) (subfamily Pooideae, tribe Meliceae)
REFERENCES: Boyle 1945; Tucker 1996; Mejía-Saulés & Bisby 2000; Barkworth ined.
1. Panicles usually simple (rarely compound), the branches themselves not branched; glumes ca.
equal in length or the upper slightly longer; spikelets � flat-topped and triangular in shape;
ligule 1.5 mm or less long; rudiments broadly obovate to obconic, truncate (appearing abruptly
cut off ), oriented at a sharp angle to the rachilla _________________________________________ M. mutica
1. Panicles usually compound, the branches themselves branched; upper glume notably longer
than the lower; spikelets neither flat-topped nor triangular in shape; ligule (1–)3–6.5 mm long;
rudiments narrowly obovate or oblong, not truncate, oriented in a � straight line with the rachilla
_________________________________________________________________________________ M. nitens
Melica mutica Walter, (blunt, pointless), TWO-FLOWER MELIC, NARROW MELIC. Culms usually
40–80(–100) cm tall from creeping rhizomes; ligule 1.5 mm or less long; leaf blades ca. 2–6 mm
wide; inflorescence 4–16(–25) cm long; spikelets 7–11 mm long; fertile florets usually 2, their
tips about at the same level in the spikelet; rudiments broadly obovate to obconic, almost clublike.
Forest openings on sandy soils; widespread in Pineywoods, less so in Post Oak Savannah;
also n Gulf Marshes and Prairies and sparsely scattered to the w; e U.S. from NJ s to FL w to IA
and TX. Apr–Jun.
Melica nitens (Scribn.) Nutt. ex Piper, (shining), THREE-FLOWER MELIC, TALL MELIC, LADD’S-FAVOR-
ITE. Plant rhizomatous; culms 50–120(–150) cm tall; ligule (1–)3–6.5 mm long; leaf blades 3–11
mm wide; inflorescence usually 10–26 cm long; spikelets 8–12(–15) mm long, much longer than
broad; fertile florets usually 2–3, their tips at different levels in the spikelet. Woodlands, rocky
grasslands; Bexar, Grayson, Limestone, Travis (BRIT), Austin, Burleson, Comal, and Williamson
(Turner et al. 2003) cos. in w and s parts of East TX; mainly w 2/3 of TX; e U.S. from PA s to GA
w to MN and TX, also AZ and NM. Apr–Jun.
MICROSTEGIUM Nees BROWNTOP, SASA GRASS, JAPANESE GRASS
AA genus of ca. 15 species (Thieret 2003b) of tropical and warm areas of the Old World, particularly
se Asia. Like all members of the Andropogoneae, Microstegium is characterized by C4
photosynthesis (Kellogg 2000a). Preliminary molecular evidence suggests that Microstegium
may be polyphyletic and that it is closely related to such genera as Miscanthus and Saccharum
(Kellogg 2000a; Mathews et al. 2002). A relationship to Eulalia has also been suggested (Clayton
& Renvoize 1986). (Greek: mikros, small, little, and stego, shelter, cover, possibly in reference
to the small lemma or glumes) (subfamily Panicoideae, tribe Andropogoneae)
REFERENCES: Bor 1952a; Fairbrothers & Gray 1972; Winter et al. 1982; Barden 1987; Nixon et al.
1987; Hunt & Zaremba 1992; Horton & Neufeld 1998; Mehroff 2000; Thieret 2003b.
Microstegium vimineum (Trin.) A. Camus, (with long slender shoots, like Salix—willows or
osiers), NEPALESE BROWNTOP, FLEXIBLE SASA GRASS, JAPANESE GRASS, EULALIA, JAPANESE STILT GRASS.
Annual, mat-forming, sometimes in dense colonies; culms creeping at base and rooting at the
lower nodes, to 100(–150) cm long, branched, ascending; ligule a very short membrane to ca. 0.8
mm long; leaf blades to 2–10(–12) cm long and 3–15 mm wide; inflorescences terminal and lateral
(cleistogamous inflorescences can also be concealed in the upper sheaths), of (1–)2–5(–6)