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Black Dropseed

Sporobolus interruptus Vasey

Comprehensive Description

provided by North American Flora
Sporobolus interruptus Vasey, Bull. Torrey Club 15: 8. 1888
SporobolusarizonicusThurb.; J asey, Bull. Torrey Club 15:8. 1888. (As synonym of S. interruptus.)
Perennial; culms densely tufted, erect, glabrous, without nodes above the base, 30-60 cm. tall; sheaths glabrous or the lower more or less softly pilose, pilose at the throat; ligule very short, ciliate; blades erect, flat or folded, sparsely pilose to glabrous, mostly 10-15 cm. long, the uppermost shorter, 1-2 mm. wide; panicles narrowly pyramidal, open, brownish-plumbeous, 10-20 cm. long, the axis glabrous, the branches distant, ascending or finally somewhat spreading, glabrous, mostly solitary, naked below, the branchlets short, ascending or appressed, the pedicels mostly shorter than the spikelets; spikelets about 6 mm. long; first glume about half as long as the spikelet, the second usually about as long as the lemma and palea.
Type locality: San Francisco Forest, Arizona (Rusby 885).
Distribution: Grassy plains and hills, northern Arizona.
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cc-by-nc-sa-3.0
bibliographic citation
Albert Spear Hitchcock. 1937. (POALES); POACEAE (pars). North American flora. vol 17(7). New York Botanical Garden, New York, NY
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Physical Description

provided by USDA PLANTS text
Perennials, Terres trial, not aquatic, Rhizomes present, Rhizome short and compact, stems close, Stems nodes swollen or brittle, Stems erect or ascending, Stems caespitose, tufted, or clustered, Stems terete, round in cross section, or polygonal, 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 very narrow or filiform, less than 2 mm wide, Leaf blades mostly flat, Leaf blade margins folded, involute, or conduplicate, Leaf blades mostly glabrous, Leaf blades more or less hairy, Ligule present, Ligule a fringe of hairs, Inflorescence terminal, Inflorescence an open panicle, openly paniculate, branches spreading, Inflorescence solitary, with 1 spike, fascicle, glomerul e, head, or cluster per stem or culm, Inflorescence branches more than 10 to numerous, Flowers bisexual, Spikelets pedicellate, Spikelets laterally compressed, Spikelet less than 3 mm wide, Spikelets with 1 fertile floret, Spikelets solitary at rachis nodes, Spikelets all alike and fertille, Spikelets bisexual, Spikelets disarticulating above the glumes, glumes persistent, Rachilla or pedicel glabrous, Glumes present, empty bracts, Glumes 2 clearly present, Glumes distinctly unequal, Glumes shorter than adjacent lemma, Glumes 1 nerved, Lemmas thin, chartaceous, hyaline, cartilaginous, or membranous, Lemma similar in texture to glumes, Lemma 1 nerved, Lemma glabrous, Lemma apex acute or acuminate, Lemma awnless, Lemma straight, Palea present, well developed, Palea membranous, hyaline, Palea about equal to lemma, Palea 2 nerved or 2 keeled, Stamens 3, Styles 2-fid, deeply 2-branched, Stigmas 2, Fruit - caryopsis, Caryopsis ellipsoid, longitudinally grooved, hilum long-linear.
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cc-by-nc-sa-3.0
compiler
Dr. David Bogler
source
Missouri Botanical Garden
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USDA NRCS NPDC
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USDA PLANTS text