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.

Urochloa panicoides

HABIT Annual; caespitose. Culms geniculately ascending, or decumbent; 10–100 cm long; without nodal roots, or rooting from lower nodes. Ligule a fringe of hairs. Leaf-blade base amplexicaul. Leaf-blades linear, or lanceolate; 2–25 cm long; 5–18 mm wide. Leaf-blade surface glabrous, or pubescent. Leaf-blade margins tuberculate-ciliate; hairy at base.

INFLORESCENCE Inflorescence composed of racemes.

Racemes 2–7(–10); borne along a central axis; unilateral; 1–7 cm long. Central inflorescence axis 1–9 cm long. Rhachis narrowly winged; angular; glabrous on surface, or with scattered hairs. Spikelet packing abaxial; regular; 2 -rowed.

Spikelets solitary, or in pairs. Fertile spikelets sessile and pedicelled. Pedicels bearing a few hairs.

FERTILE SPIKELETS Spikelets comprising 1 basal sterile florets; 1 fertile florets; without rhachilla extension. Spikelets elliptic; dorsally compressed; compressed strongly; plano-convex; acute; (2.5–)3.5–4.5(–5.5) mm long; falling entire.

GLUMES Glumes dissimilar; reaching apex of florets; thinner than fertile lemma. Lower glume ovate; clasping; 0.5(–0.66) length of spikelet; membranous; without keels; 3–5 -veined. Lower glume surface glabrous, or pubescent. Lower glume apex obtuse, or acute. Upper glume elliptic; 1 length of spikelet; membranous; without keels; 7–11 -veined. Upper glume lateral veins with cross-veins. Upper glume surface glabrous, or pubescent. Upper glume apex acuminate.

FLORETS Basal sterile florets male, or barren; with palea. Lemma of lower sterile floret similar to upper glume; elliptic; 1 length of spikelet; membranous; 5–7 -veined; glabrous, or pubescent; eciliate on margins, or setose on margins; acuminate. Fertile lemma orbicular; dorsally compressed; 2 mm long; indurate; without keel. Lemma surface rugulose. Lemma margins involute. Lemma apex obtuse; mucronate. Principal lemma awn 0.3–1 mm long overall. Palea indurate.

DISTRIBUTION Europe: northern and central. Africa: north, west-central tropical, northeast tropical, east tropical, southern tropical, south, middle Atlantic ocean, and western Indian ocean. Asia-temperate: western Asia, Arabia, and China. Asia-tropical: India and Indo-China. Australasia: Australia. North America: Mexico. South America: western South America and southern South America.

NOTES Paniceae. FTEA.

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