New! - Search other data sources for Sasa palmata

Help - Wrong Description?

Kew Data Sources

Kew's Herbarium Catalogue
ePIC - Electronic Plant Information Centre

External Data Sources

Note - this takes you off of our website
Use your browser's back button to return to this page

GrassBase - The Online World Grass Flora

Descriptions

W.D. Clayton, M. Vorontsova, K.T. Harman & H. Williamson

© Copyright The Board of Trustees, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

Sasa palmata

HABIT Perennial. Rhizomes elongated; leptomorph. Culms erect; 150–300 cm long; 7–10 mm diam.; woody. Culm-internodes terete; hollow; 14–20 cm long. Lateral branches suffrutescent. Bud complement 1. Branch complement one; solitary; as thick as stem. Culm-sheaths persistent; glabrous; without auricles; glabrous on shoulders. Culm-sheath blade lanceolate. Leaf-sheaths glabrous on surface. Leaf-sheath oral hairs lacking. Ligule an eciliate membrane. Leaf-blade base with a brief petiole-like connection to sheath. Leaf-blades oblong; 18–30 cm long; 50–80 mm wide. Leaf-blade venation comprising 19–29 vascular bundles.

INFLORESCENCE Inflorescence a panicle.

Panicle open; oblong, or ovate; 10–15 cm long. Panicle branches pubescent.

Spikelets solitary. Fertile spikelets pedicelled.

FERTILE SPIKELETS Spikelets comprising 5–10 fertile florets; with diminished florets at the apex. Spikelets linear, or oblong; laterally compressed; 25–40 mm long; breaking up at maturity; disarticulating below each fertile floret. Rhachilla internodes 4 mm long; eventually visible between lemmas; pubescent.

GLUMES Glumes persistent; dissimilar; shorter than spikelet; thinner than fertile lemma. Lower glume lanceolate; 0.5–3 mm long; 0.25–0.75 length of upper glume; scarious; without keels; 3 -veined. Lower glume apex acute. Upper glume ovate; 2–4 mm long; 0.3–0.4 length of adjacent fertile lemma; scarious; without keels; 5 -veined. Upper glume apex acute.

FLORETS Fertile lemma ovate; 7 mm long; chartaceous; without keel; 9 -veined. Lemma surface asperulous. Lemma margins ciliate. Lemma apex acuminate. Palea 9 -veined. Palea keels scaberulous. Palea surface pubescent; hairy on back and on flanks. Apical sterile florets resembling fertile though underdeveloped.

FLOWER Lodicules 3; 1.5 mm long; veined; ciliate. Anthers 6; 4 mm long. Stigmas 3.

FRUIT Caryopsis with adherent pericarp; apex unappendaged.

DISTRIBUTION Europe: northern and southwestern. Asia-temperate: Soviet far east and eastern Asia. Australasia: New Zealand.

NOTES Arundinarieae. WDC.

Please cite this publication as detailed in How to Cite Version: 3rd February 2016.