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Mounted herbarium specimen

Lower branch with adventitious rooting

Lower stem x-section

Younger stem and leaf sheath x-section

Apical stem and leaf sheath x-section

Red collar at leaf blade and leaf sheath union

Adaxial side of leaf blade and leaf margin

Abaxial side of leaf blade and leaf margin

Ligule and inner leaf sheath union

Ligule long x-section

Rachis, adaxial view

Rachis, side view

Spiklets showing pedicel, glumes, and florets.

Spikelet pubesence

Spikelets and glumes

Lemma, mucronate tip

Anthers, 3 per floret

Caryopsis, ridged texture

Caryopsis length and width measurements

Caryopsis length and width measurements

Caryopsis

Author

Justin Hensley

Caryopses

Caryopses: 0.8-1.3 mm long, 0.3-0.5 mm wide, elliptic to obovate, depressed obovate in cross section. 2n = 60.

Culms

Culms: (12)20-125 cm, mostly erect, often strongly compressed, branching;

Internodes: hollow

Electronic links

Grass Manual on the Web

http://herbarium.usu.edu/webmanual/

World Grass Species

http://www.rbgkew.org.uk/data/grasses-db/www/imp05946.htm

LSU Herbarium Database

http://www.herbarium.lsu.edu/search.php?searchtype=parish&category=monocot&majorarea=&family=Poaceae&genus=Leptochloa&sp1=scabra

 

Ecology

Sporadically occurs in wet, recently disturbed areas.

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Family

Poaceae (Gramineae) grass family

Geographic distribution

Leptochloa scabra is a neotropical species that extends into Louisiana and southwestern Alabama.

Inflorescences

Panicles: 8-35 cm, with 50-150 racemose branches

Branches: (2)5-12 cm, lax, sometimes arcuate, lower branches often remaining enclosed in the upper leaf sheaths

 

Leaves

Sheaths: glabrous, smooth to scabrous

Ligules: 1.5-2 mm, membranous, truncate, erose

Blades: 25-35(50) cm long, 8-16 mm wide, scabrous on both surfaces

Recognition factors

It is often confused with L. panicoides, but it has more, flexuous to arcuate panicle branches, shorter spikelets, and less prominent lemma veins. It may also be confused with L. fusca subsp. uninervia, from which it differs in its acute lemmas, and with L. virgata, from which it differs in its hollow, flattened culms and the complete lack of lemma awns.

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References

Allen, C. M., D. A. Newman, and H. Winters. 2004. Grasses of Louisianna, 3rd edition.Allen's Native Ventures, LLC., Pitkin, LA.

 

Clayton, W.D., Harman, K.T. and Williamson, H. (2002 onwards). World Grass Species: Descriptions, Identification, and Information Retrieval. http://www.kew.org/data/grasses–db.html. [accessed 04 December 2006; 15:30 GMT].

 

Godfrey, R. K. and J. W. Wooten. 1979. Aquatic and Wetland Plants of Southeastern United States, Monocotyledons. University of Georgia Press, Athens .

Louisiana State University Herbarium database (http://www.herbarium.lsu.edu, 9 October 2006).

 

Snow, Neil. 2003. Leptochloa P. Beauv. In: Flora of North America North ofMexico. Barkworth, M. E., K. M. Capels, S. Long, and M. B. Piep, editors. Vol. 25, part 2. Oxford University Press, New York and Oxford. Also: Grass Manual on the Web: http://herbarium.usu.edu/webmanual/.

 

USDA, NRCS. 2006. The PLANTS Database (http://plants.usda.gov, 4 December 2006).National Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge, LA 70874-4490 USA.

Rhizomes; stolons

None present

Spikelets

Spikelets: 3-4.5 mm, usually tightly imbricate, green but straw-colored when dry, with 2-6 florets

Glumes: sometimes mucronate

Lower Glumes: 0.8-1.6 mm, narrowly triangular to lanceolate

Upper Glumes: 1.1-2.1 mm, ovate

Rachilla Internodes: not visible between the florets

Lemmas: 2.1-2.4 mm, lanceolate to narrowly ovate, membranous, sparsely sericeous along the lateral veins, apices acute, unawned

Anthers: 0.2-0.4 mm