Eremochloa ciliaris (L.) Merr.

Nardus ciliaris L., Sp. Pl. 53. 1753. Culm tufted, about 25 cm tall, 1 mm across. Blade 7-8 cm. long by 2 mm wide, pubescent throughout; ligule chartaceous, truncate, about 0.3 mm long, hispid on the back. Inflorescence a single raceme, about 3 cm long. Spikelets paired, dimorphic, all sessile, the upper reduced, linear; the lower fertile, ovate, compressed, about 4 mm long. Lower glume ovate, about 3.2 mm long, chartaceous, hirsute on the back, spiny on margins; upper glume lanceolate, chartaceous, margins inrolled, 3-nerved, minutely hirsute on the lower back, about 3 mm long; lower lemma and palea hyaline; lemma lanceolate, about 3.2 mm long; palea 2-keeled on the back, about 3 mm long. Upper floret fertile,hyaline, nerveless. Caryopsis oblong, about 1.5 mm long; embryo 1/2 the length of the caryopsis.

Perennial, densely tufted. Culms erect, slender, 20–60 cm tall, usually pubescent. Leaves crowded at base of culm, overlapping; leaf sheaths keeled, glabrous or pubescent; leaf blades folded, 3–15 × 0.1–0.4 cm, glabrous or pubescent, apex acute; ligule 0.5–1 mm. Raceme falcately curved, 2–5 cm; rachis internodes narrowly oblong, slightly expanded upward, puberulous to thinly hirsute, 1.8–2.5 mm. Sessile spikelet 3.5–4 mm; lower glume oblong-ovate, firmly papery, pubescent on back or subglabrous, 7-veined, marginal spines longer than glume width, longest 1.5–5 mm, apex abruptly acute, usually wingless. Pedicelled spikelet absent; pedicel narrowly ellipsoid, ending in short point. Fl. and fr. Jul–Oct.

Distributed in India, Burma, Malaya, Thailand and Southern China.

Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hainan, Taiwan, Yunnan [Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, New Guinea, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam; Australia (N Queensland)].

Dry grassy hillsides, meadows on sandy soils, roadsides; 300–2000 m.

Nardus ciliaris Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 1: 53. 1753; Eremochloa leersioides (Munro) Hackel; Ischaemum leersioides Munro.

Eremochloa leersioides (Munro) Hack, in DC. Monog
Phan. 6 : 264. 1889.
Ischaemum leersioides Munro, Proc. Am. Acad. 4: 363. 1860.
Stems 2-4 dm. tall, erect, slender, simple, hirsute, especially above ; leaf-sheaths hirsute ; blades 4-8 cm. long, 2-3 mm. wide, rigid, sometimes folded, hirsute ; racemes 2-3 cm. long, somewhat curved, slender, the internodes about one half as long as the spikelets, barbed at the base, pubescent on the back ; spikelets 3.5 mm. long, elliptic-oblong, spreading, the first scale flat or somewhat convolute, the keels pectinate with straight bristles, the longer ones about equaling the length of the scale, pilose on the back, the second scale pubescent below, the third scale ciliolate at the apex, the fourth scale oblong, glabrous, nerveless ; primary spikelet wanting, its pedicel present, acuminate, barbed at the base, a little longer than the internode to which it is appressed.
Type locality : Whampoa, China.
Distribution : Collected at San Francisco, California, by Bolander (according 1 to Thurber) ; a

Perennials, Terrestrial, not aquatic, Rhizomes present, Rhizome short and compact, stems close, Stolons or runners present, Stems nodes swollen or brittle, Stems erect or ascending, Stems geniculate, decumbent, or lax, sometimes rooting at nodes, Stems caespitose, t ufted, or clustered, Stems compressed, flattened, or sulcate, Stems branching above base or distally at nodes, Stem internodes hollow, Stems with inflorescence less than 1 m tall, Stems, culms, or scapes exceeding basal leaves, Leaves mostly basal, below middle of stem, Leaves conspicuously 2-ranked, distichous, Leaves sheathing at base, Leaf sheath mostly open, or loose, Leaf sheath hairy, hispid or prickly, Leaf sheath or blade keeled, Leaf blades linear, Leaf blades 2-10 mm wide, Leaf blades mostly flat, Leaf blade margins folded, involute, or conduplicate, Leaf blades mostly glabrous, Leaf blades more or less hairy, Leaf blades scabrous, roughened, or wrinkled, Ligule present, Ligule an unfringed eciliate membrane, Inflorescence terminal, Inflorescence simple spikes, Inflorescence solitary, with 1 spike, fascicle, glomerule, head, or cluster per stem or culm, Inflorescence spike linear or cylindric, several times longer than wide, Inflorescence single raceme, fascicle or spike, Inflorescence branches 1-sided, Rachis dilated, flat, central axis to which spikelets are attached, Flowers bisexual, Spikelets pedicellate, Spikelets sessile or subsessile, Spikelets dorsally compressed or terete, Spikelet less than 3 mm wide, Spikelets with 1 fertile floret, Spikelets with 2 florets, Spikelets paired at rachis nodes, Spikelets all alike and fertille, Spikelets in paired units, 1 sessile, 1 pedicellate, Pedicellate spikelet rudimentary or absent, usually sterile, Spikelets bisexual, Inflorescence disarticulating between nodes or joints of rachis, rachis fragmenting, Spikelets disarticulating beneath or between the florets, Spikelets secund, in rows on one side of rachis, Spikelets closely appressed or embedded in concave portions of axis, Rachilla or pedicel glabrous, Glumes present, empty bracts, Glumes 2 clearly present, Glumes equal or subequal, Glumes equal to or longer than adjacent lemma, Glume equal to or longer than spikelet, Glumes keeled or winged, Glumes 3 nerved, Glumes 4-7 nerved, Lemmas thin, chartaceous, hyaline, cartilaginous, or membranous, Lemma glabrous, Lemma apex truncate, rounded, or obtuse, Lemma awnless, Lemma margins thin, lying flat, Lemma straight, Callus or base of lemma evidently hairy, Callus hairs shorter than lemma, Palea present, well developed, Palea membranous, hyaline, Palea shorter than lemma, Palea about equal to lemma, Stamens 3, Styles 2-fid, deeply 2-branched, Stigmas 2, Fruit - caryopsis, Caryopsis ellipsoid, longitudinally grooved, hilum long-linear.