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Queensland bluegrass

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Scientific Name
Dichanthium sericeum
Pest Alias
Queensland Blue Grass, Silky Bluestem, Silky Bluegrass, Queensland Bluegrass
Kingdom:
Plantae
Phylum:
Tracheophyta
Subphylum:
Angiospermae
Class:
Liliopsida
Order:
Poales
Family:
Poaceae
Subfamily:
Panicoideae
Tribe:
Andropogoneae
Genus:
Dichanthium
Species:
Dichanthium sericeum

Derivation of specific name 1,2

sericeum: with silky appressed hairs, sericeous

Physical description 3

Perennials, Terrestrial, not aquatic, Stems nodes swollen or brittle, Stems erect or ascending, Stems caespitose, tufted, or clustered, Stems terete, round in cross section, or polygonal, Stem nodes bearded or hairy, Stem internodes solid or spongy, Stem internodes hollow, Stems with inflorescence less than 1 m tall, Stems, culms, or scapes exceeding basal leaves, Leaves mostly cauline, Leaves conspicuously 2-ranked, distichous, Leaves sheathing at base, Leaf sheath mostly open, or loose, Leaf sheath smooth, glabrous, Leaf sheath hairy, hispid or prickly, Leaf sheath and blade differentiated, Leaf blades linear, Leaf blades 2-10 mm wid e, Leaf blades mostly flat, Leaf blade with prominently raised or widened midvein, Leaf blades mostly glabrous, Leaf blades more or less hairy, Leaf blades glaucous, blue-green, or grey, or with white glands, Ligule present, Ligule an unfringed eciliate membrane, Inflorescence terminal, Inflorescence a dense slender spike-like panicle or raceme, branches contracted, Inflorescence solitary, with 1 spike, fascicle, glomerule, head, or cluster per stem or culm, Inflorescence a panicle with narrowly racemose or spicate branches, Inflorescence a panicle with digitately arranged spicate branches, Inflorescence with 2-10 branches, Inflorescence branches paired or digitate at a single node, Flowers bisexual, Flowers unisexual, Spikelets pedicellate, Spikelets sessile or subsessile, Spikelets dorsally compressed or terete, Spikelet less than 3 mm wide, Spikelets with 2 florets, Spikelet with 1 fertile floret and 1-2 sterile florets, Spikelets paired at rachis nodes, Spikelets in pai red units, 1 sessile, 1 pedicellate, Pedicellate spikelet rudimentary or absent, usually sterile, Spikelets bisexual, Spikelets unisexual, Spikelets disarticulating below the glumes, Spikelets falling with parts of disarticulating rachis or pedicel, Spikelets conspicuously hairy , Rachilla or pedicel hairy, Glumes present, empty bracts, Glumes 2 clearly present, Glumes equal or subequal, Glumes equal to or longer than adjacent lemma, Glumes and spikelets tuberculate, warty, or spiny, Glumes 4-7 nerved, Glumes 8-15 nerved, Glume margins or apex erose-ciliate, Lemmas thin, chartaceous, hyaline, cartilaginous, or membranous, Lemma 1 nerved, Lemma glabrous, Lemma apex acute or acuminate, Lemma distinctly awned, more than 2-3 mm, Lemma with 1 awn, Lemma awn 2-4 cm long or longer, Lemma awned from tip, Lemma awn twisted, spirally coiled at base, like a corkscrew, Lemma awn once geniculate, bent once, Lemma margins thin, lying flat, Lemma straight, Callus or base of lemma evidently hairy, Callus hairs shorter than lemma, Stamens 3, Styles 2-fid, deeply 2-branched, Stigmas 2, Fruit - caryopsis, Caryopsis ellipsoid, longitudinally grooved, hilum long-linear.

References

  1. Hyde, M.A., Wursten, B.T. and Ballings, P. (2002-2014). Dichanthium sericeum (R. Br.) A. Camus Flora of Zimbabwe website. Accessed 28 August 2014 at http://www.zimbabweflora.co.zw/cult/species.php?species_id=164560
  2. © Mark Hyde, Bart Wursten and Petra Ballings, some rights reserved
  3. USDA PLANTS text, some rights reserved

Queensland bluegrass

Dichanthium sericeum
Scientific Name
Dichanthium sericeum
Pest Alias
Queensland Blue Grass, Silky Bluestem, Silky Bluegrass, Queensland Bluegrass
Kingdom:
Plantae
Phylum:
Tracheophyta
Subphylum:
Angiospermae
Class:
Liliopsida
Order:
Poales
Family:
Poaceae
Subfamily:
Panicoideae
Tribe:
Andropogoneae
Genus:
Dichanthium
Species:
Dichanthium sericeum

Derivation of specific name 1,2

sericeum: with silky appressed hairs, sericeous

Physical description 3

Perennials, Terrestrial, not aquatic, Stems nodes swollen or brittle, Stems erect or ascending, Stems caespitose, tufted, or clustered, Stems terete, round in cross section, or polygonal, Stem nodes bearded or hairy, Stem internodes solid or spongy, Stem internodes hollow, Stems with inflorescence less than 1 m tall, Stems, culms, or scapes exceeding basal leaves, Leaves mostly cauline, Leaves conspicuously 2-ranked, distichous, Leaves sheathing at base, Leaf sheath mostly open, or loose, Leaf sheath smooth, glabrous, Leaf sheath hairy, hispid or prickly, Leaf sheath and blade differentiated, Leaf blades linear, Leaf blades 2-10 mm wid e, Leaf blades mostly flat, Leaf blade with prominently raised or widened midvein, Leaf blades mostly glabrous, Leaf blades more or less hairy, Leaf blades glaucous, blue-green, or grey, or with white glands, Ligule present, Ligule an unfringed eciliate membrane, Inflorescence terminal, Inflorescence a dense slender spike-like panicle or raceme, branches contracted, Inflorescence solitary, with 1 spike, fascicle, glomerule, head, or cluster per stem or culm, Inflorescence a panicle with narrowly racemose or spicate branches, Inflorescence a panicle with digitately arranged spicate branches, Inflorescence with 2-10 branches, Inflorescence branches paired or digitate at a single node, Flowers bisexual, Flowers unisexual, Spikelets pedicellate, Spikelets sessile or subsessile, Spikelets dorsally compressed or terete, Spikelet less than 3 mm wide, Spikelets with 2 florets, Spikelet with 1 fertile floret and 1-2 sterile florets, Spikelets paired at rachis nodes, Spikelets in pai red units, 1 sessile, 1 pedicellate, Pedicellate spikelet rudimentary or absent, usually sterile, Spikelets bisexual, Spikelets unisexual, Spikelets disarticulating below the glumes, Spikelets falling with parts of disarticulating rachis or pedicel, Spikelets conspicuously hairy , Rachilla or pedicel hairy, Glumes present, empty bracts, Glumes 2 clearly present, Glumes equal or subequal, Glumes equal to or longer than adjacent lemma, Glumes and spikelets tuberculate, warty, or spiny, Glumes 4-7 nerved, Glumes 8-15 nerved, Glume margins or apex erose-ciliate, Lemmas thin, chartaceous, hyaline, cartilaginous, or membranous, Lemma 1 nerved, Lemma glabrous, Lemma apex acute or acuminate, Lemma distinctly awned, more than 2-3 mm, Lemma with 1 awn, Lemma awn 2-4 cm long or longer, Lemma awned from tip, Lemma awn twisted, spirally coiled at base, like a corkscrew, Lemma awn once geniculate, bent once, Lemma margins thin, lying flat, Lemma straight, Callus or base of lemma evidently hairy, Callus hairs shorter than lemma, Stamens 3, Styles 2-fid, deeply 2-branched, Stigmas 2, Fruit - caryopsis, Caryopsis ellipsoid, longitudinally grooved, hilum long-linear.

References

  1. Hyde, M.A., Wursten, B.T. and Ballings, P. (2002-2014). Dichanthium sericeum (R. Br.) A. Camus Flora of Zimbabwe website. Accessed 28 August 2014 at http://www.zimbabweflora.co.zw/cult/species.php?species_id=164560
  2. © Mark Hyde, Bart Wursten and Petra Ballings, some rights reserved
  3. USDA PLANTS text, some rights reserved