Saccharum brevibarbe

(Michx.) Pers.
Common names: Shortbeard plumegrass
Endemic
Treatment appears in FNA Volume 25. Treatment on page 612.

Plants rhizomatous. Culms 0.8-2.5 m; nodes glabrous or pubescent. Sheaths not ciliate; auricles absent; ligules 1-2 mm; blades usually 40-60 cm long, 7-25 mm wide, glabrous. Peduncles 45-75 cm, usually glabrous, occasionally pubescent or minutely pilose; panicles 3-10 cm wide, linear or oblong; rachises (10) 30-50 cm, glabrous or sparsely pilose; lowest nodes glabrous or sparsely pilose; primary branches 7-14 cm, appressed; rame internodes 4-6 mm, with hairs. Sessile spikelets 6.5-10.5 mm long, 1.2-1.5 mm wide, purple or straw-colored. Callus hairs 3-7 mm, from shorter than to equaling the spikelets, white to straw-colored or brown; lower glumes 5-veined, smooth basally, scabrous distally; lower lemmas 5.5-8 mm, not or indistinctly veined, initially entire, sometimes becoming bifid, teeth 2-2.5 mm; upper lemmas 5.5-8 mm, 0.9-1 times as long as the lower lemmas, 3-veined, entire or bifid; awns 10-22 mm, always flattened below, sometimes spirally coiled; lodicule veins sometimes extending as hairlike projec¬tions; anthers 2. Pedicels 3-4 mm, with hairs. Pedicellate spikelets similar to the sessile spikelets. 2n = 60.

Distribution

Md., Tenn., Okla., Miss., Tex., La., Del., Ala., N.C., S.C., Va., Ark., Ill., Ga., Ky., Fla.

Discussion

Saccharum brevibarbe grows only in the southeastern United States.

Selected References

None.

Key

1 Awns 15-22 mm long, straight or sinuous at the base; upper lemmas of the sessile spikelets entire at maturity Saccharum brevibarbe var. brevibarbe
1 Awns 10-18 mm long, spirally coiled at the base, usually with 2-4 coils; upper lemmas of the sessile spikelets bifid at maturity, teeth about 2-2.5 mm long Saccharum brevibarbe var. contortum

"decumbent" is not a number."-1timesaslongasthelowerlemmas" is not declared as a valid unit of measurement for this property.

... more about "Saccharum brevibarbe"
anatomy +  and kranz +
Robert D. Webster +
(Michx.) Pers. +
1 (?) +  and 3 (?) +
flattened +
1 cm10 mm <br />0.01 m <br /> (2.2 cm22 mm <br />0.022 m <br />) +
keeled +  and rounded +
pseudopetiolate +  and branching +
divergent +  and parallel +
intravaginal +, extravaginal +, branching +  and basal +
swelling +
pseudopetiolate +
well-developed +
40 cm400 mm <br />0.4 m <br /> (60 cm600 mm <br />0.6 m <br />) +
usually linear +  and lanceolate occasionally ovate +
reduced +
0.7 cm7 mm <br />0.007 m <br /> (2.5 cm25 mm <br />0.025 m <br />) +
spikelike +
white +  and straw-colored or brown +
0.3 cm3 mm <br />0.003 m <br /> (0.7 cm7 mm <br />0.007 m <br />) +
Shortbeard plumegrass +
purple +  and reddish +
80 cm800 mm <br />0.8 m <br /> (250 cm2,500 mm <br />2.5 m <br />) +
not woody +
Md. +, Tenn. +, Okla. +, Miss. +, Tex. +, La. +, Del. +, Ala. +, N.C. +, S.C. +, Va. +, Ark. +, Ill. +, Ga. +, Ky. +  and Fla. +
capillary +
sometimes longer +
concealing +
compressed +  and terete +
shorter or longer +
subtending +
villous +  and glabrous +
2-keeled +
subequal +
chartaceous +  and coriaceous +
uncinate +
bracteate +  and ebracteate +
pedunculate +  and multiple-stalked +
ascending +  and appressed +
axillary +  and subtending +
solid +  and hollow +
0.4 cm4 mm <br />0.004 m <br /> (0.6 cm6 mm <br />0.006 m <br />) +
photosynthetic +
not aromatic +
coriaceous +
0.1 cm1 mm <br />0.001 m <br /> (0.2 cm2 mm <br />0.002 m <br />) +
membranous +
inconspicuous +
0.55 cm5.5 mm <br />0.0055 m <br /> (0.8 cm8 mm <br />0.008 m <br />) +
pilose +  and glabrous +
complex +  and simple +
concealed +  and prominent +
pubescent +  and glabrous +
pedicellate +
oblong +  and linear +
3 cm30 mm <br />0.03 m <br /> (10 cm100 mm <br />0.1 m <br />) +
0.3 cm3 mm <br />0.003 m <br /> (0.4 cm4 mm <br />0.004 m <br />) +
pilose +, pubescent +  and glabrous +
45 cm450 mm <br />0.45 m <br /> (?) +  and 75 cm750 mm <br />0.75 m <br /> (?) +
dry +  and fleshy +
7 cm70 mm <br />0.07 m <br /> (14 cm140 mm <br />0.14 m <br />) +
10 cm100 mm <br />0.1 m <br /> (?) +
pilose +  and glabrous +
elongate +
stoloniferous +
pedicellate +  and sessile +
in triplets +  and paired +
straw-colored +  and purple +
0.65 cm6.5 mm <br />0.0065 m <br /> (1.05 cm10.5 mm <br />0.0105 m <br />) +
2 +, 1 +  and numerous +
compressed +
usually smaller +  and reduced +
1.2mm +  and 1.5mm +
1 +  and 3 +
fused +  and free +
2 +  and 3 +
dome--shaped +  and triangular +
Gramineae +
Saccharum brevibarbe +
Saccharum +
species +
membranous +
0.2 cm2 mm <br />0.002 m <br /> (0.25 cm2.5 mm <br />0.0025 m <br />) +
sessile-pedicellate +
awned +, muticous +, bidentate +  and entire +
0.55 cm5.5 mm <br />0.0055 m <br /> (0.8 cm8 mm <br />0.008 m <br />) +
not raised +
aquatic +  and terrestrial +
dioecious +, monoecious +  and synoecious +
hairlike +