Grasses of the Intermountain Region

NARDEAE

12 POOIDEAE The circumscription and relationships of tribes within the Pooideae are unsettled (see, for example, Catalán 2004, Quintanar et al. 2007, Doring et al. 2007, Bouchenak-Khelladi et al. 2008, Schneider et al. in press). In this flora, some previously recognized tribes have been combined within the Poeae. Further work will undoubtedly support the breakup of this expanded Poeae into additional tribes, but there is as yet no clear indication as to what the boundaries of such tribes should be. 1. Inflorescences 1-sided spikes, the spikelets radial to and partially embedded in the rachises; spikelets with 1 floret each . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3. Nardeae 1. Inflorescences panicles, racemes, or 2-sided spikes, the spikelets radial or tangential to and sometimes embedded in the rachises but never both radial and embedded; spikelets with 1–30 florets. 2. Cauline leaf sheaths closed for at least 3/4 their length; lemmas longer than 4.5 mm and/ or awned and/or with prominent, parallel veins. 3. Lemmas with parallel veins, often also with a purplish transverse band in the distal half, usually unawned; plants perennial; ovary apices glabrous; bases of style branches strongly recurved . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4. Meliceae 3. Lemmas with convergent veins, without a purplish transverse band in the distal half, usually awned; plants annual or perennial; ovary apices hairy; bases of style branches not recurved. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6. Bromeae 2. Cauline leaf sheaths open for all or most of their length, if closed the lemmas shorter than 7 mm, unawned, and with inconspicuous, convergent veins. 4. Inflorescences spikes or spikelike. 5. Inflorescences without branches, with 1–5 spikelets per node, if 1, the spikelets tangential to the rachis and all spikelets with 2 glumes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7. Triticeae 5. Inflorescences with or without branches, if branched, the branches shorter than 3 mm, often fused to the rachis, if 1, the spikelets radial to the rachis and all but the terminal spikelet with only 1 glume. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8. Poeae (in part) 4. Inflorescences panicles or racemes. 6. Spikelets with 1 floret; lemmas with 1 terminal awn, the junction of the lemma and the awn abrupt, evident; glumes subequal to or longer than the floret (excluding the awn). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5. Stipeae 6. Spikelets with 1-22 florets; lemmas unawned or awned, the awn basal, dorsal or terminal, if terminal the transition from the midvein to the awn gradual, not evident; glumes from shorter to longer than the adjacent florets or absent . . . 8. Poeae (in part) 3. NARDEAE W.D.J. Koch Mary E. Barkworth Pl per; ces. Clm ann, to 60 cm; intnd hollow. Shth open, mrg not fused; col glab, without tufts of hair at the sides; aur absent; lig scarious, not ciliate, those of the up and lo cauline lvs usu similar; psdpet not present; bld filiform, venation parallel, cross venation not evident, sec veins parallel to the midvein; cross sections non-Kranz, without arm or fusoid cells, adx epdm with bicellular microhairs, not papillate. Infl tml spikes, 1-sided, spklt solitary, radial to the rchs; rchs with the spklt partially embedded. Spklt not compressed, triangular in cross section, with 1 flt, flt bisex; rchl not prolonged beyond the flt base; dis above the glm, beneath the flt. Glm absent or vestigial; lo glm a cupular rim; up glm absent or vestigial; flt 5–10 mm, not compressed; cal poorly developed, glab; lm chartaceous, 3-veined, angled over the veins, most strongly so over the lat veins, apc entire, awned, awns tml, not brchd, lm-awn transition gradual, not evident; pal subequal to the lm, hyaline, 2-keeled; lod absent; anth 3; ov glab; sty 1. Car fusiform, sty bases not persistent; hila linear, more than ½ as long as the car; emb about 1/6 the length of the car. x = 13. The Nardeae include two genera, Nardus and Lygeum. Embryo characters, ligule texture, and DNAsequence data place them in the Pooideae. Only Nardus is found in the Intermountain Region. Its inclusion here in the Pooideae reflects the findings of the Grass Phylogeny Working Group (2001) and Bouchenak-Khelladi et al. (2008). 3.01 NARDUS L. Mary E. Barkworth Pl per; ces. Clm 3–60 cm, erect; bas brchg invag. Lvs mostly bas; shth open; aur absent; lig memb, entire, rounded; bld filiform, tightly convolute, epdm with bicellular microhairs. Infl tml spikes, 1-sided, spklt in 2 rows, loosely to closely imbricate; rchs terminating in a bristle; dis below the flt. Spklt triangular in cross section, with 1 flt, flt bisex. Lo glm a highly rdcd, cupular rim; up...