Chloris barbata Sw.

Map

Inflorescence

Plant

Habit

Spikelets

Landscape

Description

Perennial; culms up to 1 m. high, loosely tufted, stoloniferous. Leaf-blades flat, rarely involute, up to 40 cm. long, 2–3 mm. wide, tapering towards the apex. Inflorescence of 5–15(–22) digitate, loose to spreading, purplish, feathery spikes 4–8 cm. long. Spikelets 3-flowered, 3-awned; lower glume 1.2–1.5 mm. long; upper glume 1.7–2.5 mm. long; lowest lemma narrowly ovate-elliptic in side view, 2–2.5 mm. long, pallid, sparsely to densely ciliate on the margins and keel, the awn 4.5–7 mm. long; callus rounded, ciliate; 2nd lemma a glabrous clavate scale 1–1.5 mm. long, projecting from the side of the lowest lemma, different in shape, its awn 2.5–7 mm. long; 3rd lemma also reduced to a glabrous clavate scale 1 mm. long, its awn 3–5 mm. long.
(Description source: Clayton, W.D. 1970. Flora of Tropical East Africa. Gramineae (Part 1). Crown Agents for Oversea Governments and Administrations, London. 176 pp. )

Plants annual. Culms 15-95 cm, erect or decumbent and rooting at the lower nodes. Sheaths glabrous; ligules 0.3-0.5 mm, erose to lacerate; blades to 15 cm long, 0.3-0.6 mm wide, with basal hairs, otherwise usually glabrous. Panicles digitate, with 7-15 evidently distinct branches; branches 3-8 cm, more or less erect, averaging 14 spikelets per cm. Spikelets with 1 bisexual and 2(3) sterile florets. Lower glumes 1.2-2.1 mm; upper glumes 2.3-2.7 mm; lowest lemmas 2-2.7 mm, ovate to elliptic, calluses and distal portion of the margins pilose, hairs to 1 mm, keels glabrous or pilose, apices awned, awns 4-7.7 mm; second florets 0.9-1.3 mm long, 0.4-0.9 mm wide, slightly to strongly widened distally, inflated, usually glabrous, truncate, awned, awns 5-7 mm; third florets obovoid to subspherical, smaller than the first, strongly inflated. Caryopses 1.1-1.4 mm. 2n = 20, 40, ca. 50.
(Description source: Barkworth, M.E., Capels, K.M., Long, S. & Piep, M.B. (eds.) 2003. Flora of North America, north of Mexico. Volume 25. Magnoliophyta: Commelinidae (in part): Poaceae, Part 2. Oxford University Press, New York. 783 pp. http://floranorthamerica.org/Chloris_barbata )

Annuals; culms erect or sometimes decumbent at base and rooting at lower nodes, 30-70 cm tall, glabrous. Sheaths 2-6 cm long, glabrous, compressed, shorter than internodes, usually pilose at throat; ligule ca. 0.5 mm long, membranous, minutely erose; blades flat, 2-12 cm long, 1-5 mm wide, upper blades decreasing in size to nearly obsolete, upper surface usually sparsely long-pilose, margins scabrous. Inflorescences of 5-15(-22) digitate, ascending to spreading, purple, feathery spikes 4-6(-8) cm long; spikelets closely imbricate, 3-flowered; glumes narrow, acute, first glume 1-1.5 mm long, second glume 2-2.5 mm long; first lemma 2-2.5 mm long, obovate, keel sparsely pilose, marginal nerves silky pubescent in upper 1/2, apex rounded, awn slender, 0.5-1 cm long, callus appressed pilose; palea 2-2.5 mm long and nearly as broad as lemma, keels marginal; apical rudiment ca. 1 mm long, consisting of 2 triangular-truncate, thin, sterile lemmas, one within the other, situated at nearly the height of the fertile lemma, awns ca. 5 mm long. Caryopsis brown, fusiform, ca. 1.1 mm long, enclosed within the persistent lemma and palea. [2 = 20, 40, ca. 50, 56.]
(Description source: O’Connor, P.J. 1990. Poaceae, pp. 1481–1604. In: Wagner W.L., Herbst D.R. & Sohmer S.H. (eds.)., Manual of the flowering plant of Hawaiʻi. Vol. 2. University of Hawaii Press & Bishop Museum Press, Honolulu )