Hyparrhenia hirta (L.) Stapf

white hair thatching grass


Info

Subfamily: Panicoideae
Genus etymology: Hyparrhenia = "male below" [Greek] refering to the male flowers at the base of the raceme
Species etymology: hirta = "hairy" [Latin] refering to the pedicels
Photosynthetic type: C4 (warm season)
Nativity: naturalized - intentional
First recorded in Hawaiʻi: 1962

Map

 Distribution of Hyparrhenia hirta in Hawaiʻi.
 Distribution of Hyparrhenia hirta in Hawaiʻi.

Inflorescence

Hyparrhenia hirta Inflorescence
Hyparrhenia hirta Inflorescence
Hyparrhenia hirta Inflorescence
Hyparrhenia hirta Inflorescence

Plant

Hyparrhenia hirta Plant
Hyparrhenia hirta Plant

Habit

Hyparrhenia hirta Habit
Hyparrhenia hirta Habit

Spikelets

Hyparrhenia hirta Spikelets
Hyparrhenia hirta Spikelets
Hyparrhenia hirta Spikelets
Hyparrhenia hirta Spikelets
Hyparrhenia hirta Spikelets
Hyparrhenia hirta Spikelets
Hyparrhenia hirta Spikelets
Hyparrhenia hirta Spikelets
Hyparrhenia hirta Spikelets
Hyparrhenia hirta Spikelets

Landscape

Hyparrhenia hirta Landscape
Hyparrhenia hirta Landscape

Culm base

Hyparrhenia hirta Culm base

Peduncle of inflorescence

Hyparrhenia hirta Peduncle of inflorescence

Description

Caespitose perennial arising from short underground rhizomes, the basal leaf-sheaths glabrous or very rarely obscurely puberulous; flowering culms wiry, typically 30–60 cm. high (1 m. or more in exceptionally robust plants), standing over a dense leafy tussock 10–20 cm. high. Leaf-blades narrowly linear to conduplicate and filiform, 2–15(–30) cm. long, 1–2(–4) mm. wide, flexuous, glaucous, harshly scaberulous. False panicle typically scanty, up to 30 cm. long, bearing 2–10 raceme-pairs or sometimes more; spatheoles linear-lanceolate, 3–8 cm. long, at length reddish, the peduncles about as long; racemes 2–4 cm. long, 8–13(–16)-awned per pair, white villous, never deflexed; raceme-bases unequal, the upper 2.5–5 mm. long, filiform, glabrous or more often pubescent to hirsute. Homogamous pairs 1 at the base of the lower or both racemes. Sessile spikelet 4–6.5 mm. long, white villous (occasionally the hairs rather sparse); callus 0.5–1.5 mm. long, subacute to acute; awn 10–35 mm. long, puberulous with white hairs 0.1–0.3 mm. long. Pedicelled spikelet white villous, muticous.
(Description source: Clayton, W.D. & Renvoize, S.A. 1982. Flora of Tropical East Africa. Gramineae (Part 3). A.A. Balkema, Rotterdam. 448 pp. )

Tufted, shortly rhizomatous perennial up to 60(–100) cm high. False panicle typically scanty, up to 30 cm long; spatheoles linear-lanceolate, 3–8 cm long, reddish; peduncle about as long as the spatheole, with or without spreading white hairs above. Racemes never deflexed, 2–4 cm long, 8- to 13(–16)-awned per pair; raceme-bases unequal, the upper 2.5–5 mm long, filiform; homogamous spikelet-pairs 1 at the base of the lower or both racemes. Sessile spikelet 4–6.5 mm long, villous; awn 10–35 mm long. Pedicelled spikelet 3–7 mm long, white-villous.
(Description source: Cope, T.A, (1995) Flora Somalia, Vol 4. Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew, London. 312 pp. )

Caespitose perennial arising from short rhizomes; culms up to 60 cm high (up to 1 m in exceptionally robust specimens), wiry, standing above a dense leafy tussock 10–20 cm high. Leaf sheaths compressed and keeled, glabrous or rarely obscurely puberulous; leaf laminas 2–15(30) cm × 1–2(4) mm, narrowly linear to conduplicate and filiform, flexuous, glaucous, harshly scaberulous. False panicle up to 30 cm long, typically scanty with only 2–10 raceme-pairs but sometimes a little fuller with more raceme-pairs; spatheoles 3–8 cm long, linear-lanceolate, at length reddish; peduncles about as long as the spatheoles, glabrous or with white bulbous-based hairs above; racemes 2–4 cm long, 8–13(16)-awned per pair, white-villous, terminally exserted, never deflexed; raceme-bases unequal, the superior 2.5–5 mm long, filiform, glabrous or more usually pubescent to hirsute, with or without a white beard at the foot. Homogamous spikelets similar to the pedicelled, a single pair at the base of the inferior or both racemes. Sessile spikelets 4–6.5 mm long; callus 0.5–1.5 mm long, subacute to acute; inferior glume linear-elliptic, yellowish-green to violet, white-villous but occasionally the hairs rather sparse; awn 10–35 mm long, puberulous with white hairs 0.1–0.3 mm long. Pedicelled spikelets 3–7 mm long, narrowly lanceolate, white-villous, acute and muticous at the apex; callus absent; pedicel-tooth 0.2–1 mm long, subulate.
(Description source: Cope, T.A. (ed.). 2002. Flora Zambesiaca. Volume 10. Part 4. Kew, London. 190 pp. )

Plants perennial; cespitose but with short rhizomes. Culms 30-100 cm. Sheaths glabrous; blades 2-40 cm long, 1-3(4) mm wide. Peduncles 5-10 cm; rames 1-3.5(4) cm, 1 almost sessile, the other with a 5-10 mm base, both with 8-14 heterogamous spikelet pairs. Glumes of all spikelets densely pubescent, hairs to 0.3 mm, white to dark yellow. Sessile spikelets of homogamous pairs 4.9-5.6 mm; sessile spikelets of heterogamous pairs 4-4.5 mm; lemmas awned, awns 1-3.5 cm. Pedicellate spikelets 4.8-6.5 mm. 2n = 30, 44, 45.
(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/Hyparrhenia_hirta )