Melica torreyana

Scribn.
Common names: Torrey's melic
Endemic
Treatment appears in FNA Volume 24. Treatment on page 90.

Plants densely cespitose, not rhizomatous. Culms 30-100 cm, not forming corms; internodes smooth. Sheaths glabrous or sparsely pilose, sometimes pilose only at the throat, sometimes scabridulous; ligules 1-5 mm; blades 1-2.5 mm wide, sometimes pilose on both surfaces, sometimes scabridulous. Panicles 6-25 cm; branches 1-5 cm, usually appressed, occasionally divergent, with 5-37 spikelets; pedicels straight; disarticulation above the glumes. Spikelets 3.5-7 mm, with 1 (2) bisexual florets. Lower glumes 3-5 mm long, about 1 mm wide, 1-5-veined; upper glumes 3.3-7 mm long, 1-2 mm wide, 3-5-veined; lemmas 3.5-6 mm, scabridulous, sometimes hairy, distal hairs longer than those below, 7-veined, veins inconspicuous, apices rounded to emarginate, unawned or awned, awns 1-2 mm; paleas slightly shorter than the lemmas; anthers 1.5-2.5 mm; rudiments 0.5-4 mm, clearly distinct from the bisexual florets, shorter than the terminal rachilla internode, truncate to acute. 2n =18.

Discussion

Melica torreyana grows from sea level to 1200 m, in thickets and woods in California. It is common throughout chaparral areas and coniferous forests but, on serpentine soils, grows only in shady locations. The shape and size of the rudiments make M. torreyana unique among the species found in North America. Boyle (1945) obtained vigorous, almost completely sterile hybrids between M. imperfecta and M. torreyana, but found no examples of natural hybrids.

Selected References

None.

Lower Taxa

None.

"decumbent" is not a number.

... more about "Melica torreyana"
membranous +  and scarious +
0.15 cm1.5 mm <br />0.0015 m <br /> (0.25 cm2.5 mm <br />0.0025 m <br />) +
rounded to emarginate +
Mary E. Barkworth +
Scribn. +
1 (?) +  and 3 (?) +
straight +
basal +  and apical +
0.1 cm1 mm <br />0.001 m <br /> (0.2 cm2 mm <br />0.002 m <br />) +
keeled +  and rounded +
pseudopetiolate +  and branching +
persistent +
intravaginal +, extravaginal +, branching +  and basal +
swelling +
scabridulous +
folded +  and flat +
0.1 cm1 mm <br />0.001 m <br /> (0.25 cm2.5 mm <br />0.0025 m <br />) +
1 cm10 mm <br />0.01 m <br /> (5 cm50 mm <br />0.05 m <br />) +
Torrey's melic +
not branching +
ascending +  and erect +
30 cm300 mm <br />0.3 m <br /> (100 cm1,000 mm <br />1 m <br />) +
not woody +
0 +  and 1/3 +
liquid +, soft +  and hard +
capillary +
sometimes longer +
compressed +
reduced +
shorter than to longer than the adjacent lemmas +
subtending +
chartaceous +  and membranous +
uncinate +
(4)5-15-veined +
scabridulous +
0.35 cm3.5 mm <br />0.0035 m <br /> (0.6 cm6 mm <br />0.006 m <br />) +
coriaceous +  and membranous +
0.1 cm1 mm <br />0.001 m <br /> (0.5 cm5 mm <br />0.005 m <br />) +
inconspicuous +
lanceolate +
0.3 cm3 mm <br />0.003 m <br /> (0.5 cm5 mm <br />0.005 m <br />) +
concealed +  and prominent +
2 +  and 1 +
well-developed +
reduced +
6 cm60 mm <br />0.06 m <br /> (25 cm250 mm <br />0.25 m <br />) +
scabrous +  and strigose +
dry +  and fleshy +
pilose +  and glabrous +
scabridulous +
5 +  and 37 +
not viviparous +
compressed +
0.35 cm3.5 mm <br />0.0035 m <br /> (0.7 cm7 mm <br />0.007 m <br />) +
1 +  and 3 +
simple +  and compound +
collar-like +
2 (?) +  and 3 (?) +
Gramineae +
Melica torreyana +
species +
membranous +
0.33 cm3.3 mm <br />0.0033 m <br /> (0.7 cm7 mm <br />0.007 m <br />) +
1mm +  and 2mm +
inconspicuous +
plant +  and cespitose +
aquatic +  and terrestrial +