-
MELICEAE
- Utah State University Press
- Chapter
- Additional Information
4. MELICEAE 13 or vestigial; flt 5–10 mm; lm linear-lanceolate to lanceolate-oblong, chartaceous, enveloping the pal, 3-veined, awned; pal hyaline, 2-veined, 2-keeled; lod absent; anth 3; sty 1. x = 13. Name from the Greek nardos, referring to spikenard, an aromatic herb. It is not clear why the name was applied to this genus; its only species is not scented. Nardus is a monospecific European genus. 1. Nardus stricta L. Matgrass [p. 281, 493] Clm (3)10–40(60) cm, stiff, wiry, frequently graygreen ; nd 1(2) per clm, restricted to the lo portion of the clm, pubescent; intnd glab. Shth smooth, whitish, tough; lig 0.5–1(2) mm, blunt; bld 4–30 cm long, 0.5–1 mm wide, stiff, tightly convolute, abx surfaces hispid, hairs about 0.3 mm, adx surfaces scabridulous, ribbed over the veins, apc sharply acute. Spikes (1)3–8 cm, terminating in a bristle, bristle to 1 cm. Spklt 5–10 mm, narrowly linear, triangular in cross section, bluish or purplish; lm 5–10 mm, 2–3-keeled, awned, awns 1–4.5 mm; pal slightly shorter than the lm; anth 1–4 mm. Car 3–4.5 mm, tightly enclosed by the lm and pal. 2n = 26. Nardus stricta is a widespread xerophytic and glycophytic species in Europe, usually growing in open areas on sandy or peaty soils. In NorthAmerica, it is found in scattered locations from upper Michigan to Newfoundland and Greenland, and in Oregon and Idaho, where it is listed as a state noxious weed. The stiff, sharp leaves make it unpalatable; hence it tends to survive in areas of heavy grazing. This, combined with its broad ecological range, makes its potential for spreading in western rangelands a matter of concern. 4. MELICEAE Endl. Mary E. Barkworth Pl usu per, smt ann; ces, smt rhz. Clm ann, not woody, not brchg above the base; intnd hollow. Shth closed for their whole length or almost so; col without tufts of hair on the sides; aur smt present; lig hyaline, glab, often lacerate, occ ciliate, those of the lo and up cauline lvs usu similar; psdpet absent; bld linear to narrowly lanceolate, venation parallel, cross venation smt evident; cross sections nonKranz , without arm or fusoid cells; epdm without microhairs, smt papillate. Infl tml pan or rcm; dis above the glm and beneath the flt or below the glm. Spklt 2.5–60 mm, not viviparous, slightly to strongly lat compressed, with 1–30 flt, proximal flt bisex, distal 1–3 flt usu strl, smt pist, smt rdcd and amalgamated into a knob- or club-shaped rudiment; rchl prolonged beyond the base of the distal flt. Glm exceeded by the distal flt, shorter than to longer than the adjacent lm, mostly memb, scarious distally, 1–11-veined, apc usu rounded to acute; flt lat or dorsally compressed; cal blunt, glab or with hairs; lm of sex flt rectangular or ovate, mostly memb, scarious distally, often with a purplish band adjacent to the scarious apc, (4)5–15-veined, veins not converging distally, often prominent, unawned or awned, awns not brchd, apc entire to bilobed or bifid, awns straight, subtml or from the sinuses; pal from shorter than to longer than the lm, similar in texture, 2-veined, veins keeled, smt winged; lod 2, fleshy, usu connate into a single structure, without a memb wing, truncate, not ciliate, not or scarcely veined; anth 1, 2, or 3; ov glab; sty 2-brchd, bases persistent, br plumose distally. Car ovoid to ellipsoid, longitudinally grooved or not; hila usu linear; emb less than 1/3 as long as the car. x = (8)9, 10. There are approximately 130 species and 8 or 9 genera in the Meliceae. Four of the genera are monotypic. Melica and Glyceria, the two largest genera, are well represented in North America. Pleuropogon and Schizachne are primarily North American, but extend into eastern Asia. Four genera are native to the Intermountain Region. Molecular studies (e.g., Grass Phylogeny Working Group 2001; Bouchenak-Khelladi et al. 2008) show the tribe to be monophyletic and somewhat basal within the Pooideae. Members of the tribe are most easily recognized by the combination of closed leaf sheaths, scarious lemma apices, and non-converging lemma veins. The tribe also differs from other tribes in the Pooideae in having 2 unwinged lodicules that are usually connate into a single structure, and a base chromosome number of 9 or 10. Catabrosa and Briza, whose...