Comments
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Alloteropsis semialata is a polymorphic species, and is unique among grasses in possessing leaf anatomy corresponding to both C3 and C4 photosynthetic types. These physiological variants correspond very approximately to the color variants recognized below, which have been raised to subspecific rank for that reason. However, other morphological characters that have been used to separate the subspecies in South Africa do not result in a division into two taxa in China, so the subspecies are not upheld here. Investigations in South Africa have shown var. eckloniana to be diploid (2n = 18), whereas var. semialata comprises a polyploid series from tetraploid to octoploid.
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Description
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Perennials; culm densely tufted, rhizome present, erect, 30-60 cm tall, more or less pubescent below
inflorescence, base thickly clothed with woolly remains of old sheath of leaf; ligule membranaceous,
fringed, ca. 0.4 mm long. Blades linear, 10-30 cm long, 3-7 mm wide. Racemes mostly 2, sometimes 3
or 4, 3-13 cm long, subdigitately arranged; rachis slender, villous, 3-angled. Spikelets pedicellate, usually
paired on one side, ovate-lanceolate, 5-7 mm long, pale or brownish; lower glume ca. 1/2 as long as
spikelet, 3-veined, mucronate or awn-tipped; upper glume 5-veined, widely winged, awn-tipped,
densely ciliate, hairs finally widely spreading along margins; lower lemma as long as upper glume but
slightly firmer, awnless, often sparingly ciliolate along margins, enclosing a short hyaline, cleft palea;
upper lemma dark purple or brown, glossy, beraring an awn as much as 3 mm long, margins ciliolate.
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Description
provided by eFloras
Perennial, tussocky from a short rhizome. Culms slender, erect, 30–70 cm, nodes bearded. Basal leaf sheaths persistent, densely and conspicuously silky hairy; leaf blades linear, flat or convolute, stiff, 10–50 × 0.1–1 cm, abaxial surface glabrous, adaxial surface sparsely to densely hairy, base narrow; ligule membranous, ca. 1 mm. Inflorescence digitate; racemes 2–4, 4–12 cm, narrowly ascending, rachis pilose, spikelets grouped on pedicels of varying length. Spikelets lanceolate, 5–6 mm, pale to dark brown, sometimes with transverse banding; glumes sharply acute to shortly awned; lower glume ovate; upper glume margins ciliate, occasionally winged; lower lemma with a small palea corresponding to a thin triangular basal patch on the lemma; upper lemma ovate-lanceolate, ca. 4 mm, smooth, with a rigid 2–3 mm awn-point. Anthers orange, ca. 3 mm. Fl. and fr. Feb–Aug. 2n = 18.
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Distribution
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The Himalayas, India, Myanmar, China, Australia and Tropical Africa. Taiwan, in exposed red soil hillsides.
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Habitat & Distribution
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Hill slopes. Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan, Sichuan, Taiwan, Yunnan [Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam; Africa, Pacific Islands].
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Synonym
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Panicum semialatum R. Br., Prodr. 192. 1810.
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Alloteropsis semialata
provided by wikipedia EN
Alloteropsis semialata, known commonly as black seed grass, cockatoo grass, donkersaad gras, swartsaadgras, tweevingergras, and isi quinti, is a perennial grass distributed across much of tropical and subtropical Africa, Asia and Australia, as well as Papuasia and Madagascar.[1][2][3] The genus name Allopteropsis comes from the Greek words "allotrios", meaning "belonging to another", and "opsis", meaning appearance. The specific epithet semialata comes from the Latin "semi" (half) and "ala" (wing), referring to the winged margins of the upper glume.[4]
Description
This plant typically reaches 20-150 centimeters tall, growing from a short, white rhizome.[5] The leaf blades are typically 10-50 centimeters long and 1-10 millimeters wide. The plant produces 2-flowered fertile spikelets.[6]
Variation
The species has two subspecies including A. semialata subsp. semialata, which uses the C4 photosynthetic pathway, and A. semialata subsp. eckloniana, which uses the C3 photosynthetic pathway.[7] As the only plant species known to use both pathways, it is an important model for the study of the evolution of photosynthesis. There are a wide range of intermediate phenotypes, including that of C2 photosynthesis.[8]
The species has been found in a polyploid series with diploid, tetraploid, hexaploid, octoploid and dodecaploid individuals. All members of the C3 subspecies are diploid and there are no diploid individuals outside of that subspecies.[9]
Ecology
The seeds of this species are an important component of the wet-season diet of many granivorous finches and parrots. The rhizomes are part of the dry-season diet of some animals.[4]
References
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^ a b Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
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^ Flora of China Vol. 22 Page 519 毛颖草 mao ying cao Alloteropsis semialata (R. Brown) Hitchcock, Contr. U. S. Natl. Herb. 12: 210. 1909.
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^ Hitchcock, A. S. 1909. Catalogue of the Grasses of Cuba. Contributions from the United States National Herbarium 12(6): 183–258, vii–xi
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^ a b "Cockatoo Grass – Alloteropsis semialata | NQ Dry Tropics". Retrieved 2021-05-07.
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^ "Alloteropsis semialata". Cape York Natural Resource Management. Retrieved 2021-05-07.
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^ "Alloteropsis semialata | AusGrass2". ausgrass2.myspecies.info. Retrieved 2021-05-07.
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^ Gibbs Russell, G. E. (1983). "The taxonomic position of C3 and C4 Alloteropsis semialata (Poaceae) in southern Africa". Bothalia. 14 (2): 205–213. doi:10.4102/abc.v14i2.1160.
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^ Lundgren, Marjorie R.; Dunning, Luke T.; Olofsson, Jill K.; Moreno-Villena, Jose J.; Bouvier, Jacques W.; Sage, Tammy L.; Khoshravesh, Roxana; Sultmanis, Stefanie; Stata, Matt; Ripley, Brad S.; Vorontsova, Maria S.; Besnard, Guillaume; Adams, Claire; Cuff, Nicholas; Mapaura, Anthony; Bianconi, Matheus E.; Long, Christine M.; Christin, Pascal-Antoine; Osborne, Colin P. (February 2019). "C4 anatomy can evolve via a single developmental change". Ecology Letters. 22 (2): 302–312. doi:10.1111/ele.13191. PMC 6849723. PMID 30557904. S2CID 56174713.
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^ Liebenberg, E. J. L.; A. Fossey. (November 2001). "Comparative cytogenetic investigation of the two subspecies of the grass Alloteropsis semialata (Poaceae)". Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society. 137 (3): 243–248. doi:10.1111/j.1095-8339.2001.tb01120.x. S2CID 84546752.
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Alloteropsis semialata: Brief Summary
provided by wikipedia EN
Alloteropsis semialata, known commonly as black seed grass, cockatoo grass, donkersaad gras, swartsaadgras, tweevingergras, and isi quinti, is a perennial grass distributed across much of tropical and subtropical Africa, Asia and Australia, as well as Papuasia and Madagascar. The genus name Allopteropsis comes from the Greek words "allotrios", meaning "belonging to another", and "opsis", meaning appearance. The specific epithet semialata comes from the Latin "semi" (half) and "ala" (wing), referring to the winged margins of the upper glume.
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