Stolonochloa pygmaea (R.Br.) E.J.Thomps.

pygmy panic grass


Info

Subfamily: Panicoideae
Genus etymology:
Species etymology: pygmaea = "dwarf" [Latin] refering to its stature
Photosynthetic type: C4 (warm season)
Nativity: naturalized - accidental
First recorded in Hawaiʻi: 1989

Map

 Distribution of Stolonochloa pygmaea in Hawaiʻi.

Inflorescence

Stolonochloa pygmaea Inflorescence
Stolonochloa pygmaea Inflorescence
Stolonochloa pygmaea Inflorescence
Stolonochloa pygmaea Inflorescence
Stolonochloa pygmaea Inflorescence

Plant

Stolonochloa pygmaea Plant
Stolonochloa pygmaea Plant
Stolonochloa pygmaea Plant
Stolonochloa pygmaea Plant
Stolonochloa pygmaea Plant
Stolonochloa pygmaea Plant
Stolonochloa pygmaea Plant

Habit

Stolonochloa pygmaea Habit

Spikelets

Stolonochloa pygmaea Spikelets
Stolonochloa pygmaea Spikelets
Stolonochloa pygmaea Spikelets

Landscape

Stolonochloa pygmaea Landscape
Stolonochloa pygmaea Landscape
Stolonochloa pygmaea Landscape

Collar

Stolonochloa pygmaea Collar
Stolonochloa pygmaea Collar

Description

Perennial. Rhizomes absent. Stolons present. Culms decumbent, stature slender to delicate, 8–29 cm tall, 2–5-noded. Mid-culm internodes glabrous. Mid-culm nodes glabrous or pubescent. Lateral branches sparsely branched. Leaf-sheaths hairy. Leaf Sheath auricles absent. Ligule a fringe of hairs, 0.5 mm long. Leaf-blades spreading, linear or lanceolate, 1–4.5 cm long, 1–6 mm wide. Leaf-blade surface smooth or scabrous, indumented. Inflorescence compound, a panicle. Panicle ovate, 2–8 cm long, evenly furnished. Spikelets: spikelets pedicelled. Fertile spikelets 2-flowered, the lower floret barren (rarely male), the upper fertile, comprising 1 basal sterile florets, comprising 1 fertile floret(s), without rachilla extension, lanceolate or elliptic or ovate, dorsally compressed, 1.7–2.3 mm long. Rhachilla internodes brief up to lowest fertile floret. Glumes thinner than fertile lemma. Lower glume ovate, membranous, without keels, 0-nerved. Lower glume apex muticous. Upper glume elliptic or ovate, 1.7–1.9 mm long, membranous, without keels, 5(–7)-nerved. Upper glume surface smooth or asperulous. Basal sterile florets 1, barren, without significant palea. Lemma of lower sterile floret 100 % of length of spikelet, membranous, 5-nerved, mucronate. Fertile lemma 1.5–1.9 mm long, without keel. Lemma apex mucronate. Anthers 3.
(Description source: Simon, B.K. & Alfonso, Y. 2011. AusGrass2. Available at: http://ausgrass2. myspecies.info/ (Accessed 12 Jan 2023) )