Eragrostis elongata (Willd.) J.Jacq.

elongate lovegrass


Info

Subfamily: Chloridoideae
Genus etymology: Eragrostis = "love grass" [Greek] unclear origin, other etymologies such as "early grass" or "very grass" have also been speculated
Species etymology: elongata = "elongated" [Latin] refering to the inflorescence
Photosynthetic type: C4 (warm season)
Nativity: naturalized - accidental
First recorded in Hawaiʻi: 1949

Map

 Distribution of Eragrostis elongata in Hawaiʻi.
 Distribution of Eragrostis elongata in Hawaiʻi.

Inflorescence

Eragrostis elongata Inflorescence
Eragrostis elongata Inflorescence
Eragrostis elongata Inflorescence
Eragrostis elongata Inflorescence
Eragrostis elongata Inflorescence
Eragrostis elongata Inflorescence
Eragrostis elongata Inflorescence
Eragrostis elongata Inflorescence
Eragrostis elongata Inflorescence

Plant

Eragrostis elongata Plant
Eragrostis elongata Plant

Habit

Eragrostis elongata Habit
Eragrostis elongata Habit
Eragrostis elongata Habit

Spikelets

Eragrostis elongata Spikelets
Eragrostis elongata Spikelets
Eragrostis elongata Spikelets
Eragrostis elongata Spikelets
Eragrostis elongata Spikelets

Description

Plants perennial; cespitose, with innovations, without rhizomes, not glandular. Culms 28-60 cm, erect to decumbent, glabrous below the nodes. Sheaths glabrous, apices sparsely hairy, hairs to 2 mm; ligules 0.3-0.4 mm; blades 5-20 cm long, 0.8-3 mm wide, flat to involute, abaxial surfaces glabrous, adaxial surfaces scabridulous, occasionally hairy near the base. Panicles terminal, (5)8-20(22) cm long, 1-3.5 cm wide, spicate to narrowly ovate, branches condensed into glomerate lobes; primary branches 0.8-3 cm, appressed or diverging up to 90° from the rachises, spikelet-bearing to the base; pulvini glabrous; pedicels 0.2-1.3 mm, flat¬tened, mostly appressed, all shorter than the spikelets. Spikelets 3-7 mm long, 1.8-2.4 mm wide, linear-lanceolate, stramineous with a reddish-purple tinge, with 8-18 florets; disarticulation acropetal, glumes first, then the lemmas, paleas persistent. Glumes subequal, 1.2-2 mm, narrowly lanceolate to lanceolate, membranous; lemmas 1.5-2.2 mm, lanceolate to ovate, leathery, greenish, lateral veins conspicuous, apices acute; paleas 1.1-1.7 mm, hyaline, narrower than the lemmas, keels ciliate, cilia to 0.2 mm, apices obtuse to acute; anthers 2, 0.2-0.3 mm, purplish. Caryopses 0.4-0.5 mm, ovoid, not grooved, smooth, light brown. 2n = unknown.
(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/Eragrostis_elongata )