Nassella cernua (Stebbins & Love) Barkworth

synonyms: Stipa cernua


needlegrass


Info

Subfamily: Pooideae
Genus etymology: Nassella = "small fishing basket" (with a narrow neck) [Latin] refering to the spikelets
Species etymology: cernua = "nodding" [Latin] refering to the drooping panicle branches
Photosynthetic type: C3 (cool season)
Nativity: naturalized - accidental
First recorded in Hawaiʻi: 1957

Map

 Distribution of Nassella cernua in Hawaiʻi.

Inflorescence

Nassella cernua Inflorescence
Nassella cernua Inflorescence
Nassella cernua Inflorescence
Nassella cernua Inflorescence
Nassella cernua Inflorescence
Nassella cernua Inflorescence

Plant

Nassella cernua Plant
Nassella cernua Plant
Nassella cernua Plant
Nassella cernua Plant
Nassella cernua Plant
Nassella cernua Plant
Nassella cernua Plant

Habit

Nassella cernua Habit
Nassella cernua Habit
Nassella cernua Habit
Nassella cernua Habit
Nassella cernua Habit
Nassella cernua Habit
Nassella cernua Habit

Spikelets

Nassella cernua Spikelets
Nassella cernua Spikelets
Nassella cernua Spikelets
Nassella cernua Spikelets
Nassella cernua Spikelets
Nassella cernua Spikelets
Nassella cernua Spikelets
Nassella cernua Spikelets
Nassella cernua Spikelets
Nassella cernua Spikelets

Collar

Nassella cernua Collar
Nassella cernua Collar

Description

Plants perennial; cespitose, not rhizomatous. Culms 30-100 cm tall, 1-2.2 mm thick, erect or geniculate at the basal nodes, internodes pubescent below the nodes, lowest internodes sometimes pubescent throughout; nodes 2-3, glabrous. Leaves usually glaucous; sheaths mostly glabrous, throats ciliate; collars mostly glabrous, with sparse tufts of hair at the sides, hairs 1-1.6 mm; ligules 0.2-1.6 mm, glabrous, truncate to rounded; blades 3-26 cm long, 0.4-1.2 mm wide, flat to convolute, abaxial surfaces scabridulous, adaxial surfaces hairy. Panicles 15-80 cm, open, often partially enclosed at maturity; branches 1-6 cm, flexuous or cernuous, with 1-8 spikelets on the distal 1/2; pedicels 3-9 mm. Glumes glabrous, narrowly lanceolate, acuminate; lower glumes 12-22 mm long, 0.9-1.7 mm wide; upper glumes 3-4 mm shorter that the lower glumes; florets 4-9 mm long, 0.6-0.8 mm wide, terete; calluses 1.4-3.6 mm, sharp, strigose; lemmas minutely papillose, tapering to the crown, the proximal 1/4 evenly pubescent, the distal 3/4 pubescent only over the veins; crowns 0.2-0.5 mm long, 0.3-0.35 mm wide, straight-sided, rims with 0.8-1.1 mm hairs; awns 50-110 mm long, 0.2-0.3 mm thick at the base, first geniculation evident, second geniculation obscure, terminal segment cernuous; anthers 3.5-5.5 mm, penicillate. Caryopses 4.5-5.5 mm. 2n = 70.
(Description source: Barkworth, M.E., Capels, K.M. & Long, S. (eds.) 1993. Flora of North America, north of Mexico. Volume 24. Magnoliophyta: Commelinidae (in part): Poaceae, Part 1. Oxford University Press, New York. 911 pp. http://floranorthamerica.org/Nassella_cernua )

Perennials; culms erect, forming large, dense clumps, usually 6-9 dm tall. Sheaths glabrous, margins overlapping, membranous; ligule membranous, ca. 2 mm long, margins entire to erose, apex unevenly rounded. Blades glaucous, cauline, 1.2-2.4 mm wide, flat to involute, upper surface evenly pilose, lower surface sparsely pilose or glabrous. Panicles 30-50 cm long or longer, branches numerous, flexuous, ascending or spreading, partially or fully exserted from the subtending sheath; glumes membranous, linear to lanceolate, glabrous, apex acuminate, first glume 12- 19 mm long, 3-nerved, second glume ca. 11 mm long, 3-nerved; lemma chartaceous, 5- 10 mm long, papillose, pilose in lower part and on the nerves, awn 60-110 mm long, twice geniculate, the terminal segment flexuous, scabrous or basally short-pubescent; palea membranous, ovate, 1-1.5 mm long, glabrous, nerveless, apex rounded. Caryopsis pale brown, cylindrical, trigonous, ca. 4 mm long. [2n = 70.]
(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 )