Amelichloa clandestina

(Hack.) Arriaga & Barkworth
Common names: Mexican needlegrass
Synonyms: Stipa clandestina Achnatherum clandestinum
Treatment appears in FNA Volume 24. Treatment on page 184.
Please click on the illustration for a higher resolution version.
Illustrator: Cindy Roché

Copyright: Utah State University

Plants cespitose, with knotty, rhizomatous bases. Culms 50-90 cm tall, 1-2.9 thick, erect, glabrous; nodes usually 3. Sheaths mostly glabrous, mar¬gins ciliate distally; collars glabrous, often with tufts of hair to 1.5 mm on the margins; ligules 0.5-1.5 mm, membranous, ciliate, cilia 1-2 mm, slightly longer at the leaf margins; blades 10-50 cm long, usually tightly convolute and 0.4-1 mm in diameter, 2-4 mm wide when flat, erect, abaxial surfaces smooth, adaxial surfaces usually glabrous. Panicles 10-20 cm long, 1-5 cm wide, bases sometimes included in the leaf-sheaths; branches ascending to spreading, longest lower branches 4-12 cm. Glumes subequal, 6.3-13 mm, linear-lanceolate, 3-veined, midveins smooth, scabrous, or with stiff hairs, varying within a panicle, apices acuminate; florets 5.5-8 mm long, about 0.8-1.3 mm thick, fusiform; calluses 0.3-0.6 mm, blunt, strigose, hairs 0.5-0.8 mm; lemmas pubescent on the proximal 1/2, the pubescence over the midvein extending to the awn, hairs 0.5-0.8 mm, distal portion glabrous, tapering to the apices, apices with 0.7-1 mm hairs around the base of the awn; awns 11-23 mm, glabrous or scabrous, usually twice-geniculate; paleas 3.5-6.5 mm, 3/4 - 9/10 as long as the lemmas, pubescent over the central portion, apices involute; lodicules 3; anthers 3-4 mm, penicillate. Caryopses about 3 mm long, 1-1.4 mm thick; style bases upright, centric. 2n = unknown.

Discussion

Amelichloa clandestina is native from northern Mexico to Colombia. It has been accidentally introduced to pastures and roadsides in Texas, and is now established there. Reports from California need to be checked. They may reflect misidentifications of A. brachychaeta, which differs from A. clandestina in its shorter ligules, florets, and anthers.

Selected References

None.

Lower Taxa

None.

"decumbent" is not a number.

... more about "Amelichloa clandestina"
membranous +  and scarious +
2 +, 1 +  and 3 +
penicillate +
0.3 cm3 mm <br />0.003 m <br /> (0.4 cm4 mm <br />0.004 m <br />) +
acuminate +
Mirta O. Arriaga +
(Hack.) Arriaga & Barkworth +
twisted +  and not branched +
1 (?) +  and 3 (?) +
subterminal +  and eccentric +
scabrous +  and glabrous +
2 times-geniculate +
reduced +
1.1 cm11 mm <br />0.011 m <br /> (2.3 cm23 mm <br />0.023 m <br />) +
keeled +  and rounded +
rhizomatous +
intravaginal +, extravaginal +, branching +  and basal +
swelling +
10 cm100 mm <br />0.1 m <br /> (50 cm500 mm <br />0.5 m <br />) +
not evident +
cross +, linear +  and narrowly lanceolate +
0.04 cm0.4 mm <br />4.0e-4 m <br /> (0.1 cm1 mm <br />0.001 m <br />) +
ascending;spreading +
spikelike +
well-developed +
0.03 cm0.3 mm <br />3.0e-4 m <br /> (0.06 cm0.6 mm <br />6.0e-4 m <br />) +
0.1 cm1 mm <br />0.001 m <br /> (0.2 cm2 mm <br />0.002 m <br />) +
Mexican needlegrass +
branching +  and not branching +
perennial +  and annual +
50 cm500 mm <br />0.5 m <br /> (90 cm900 mm <br />0.9 m <br />) +
intravaginal +  and basal +
not woody +
1 cm10 mm <br />0.01 m <br /> (2.9 cm29 mm <br />0.029 m <br />) +
0 +  and 1/3 +
liquid +, soft +  and hard +
capillary +
pistillate +  and staminate +
0.55 cm5.5 mm <br />0.0055 m <br /> (0.8 cm8 mm <br />0.008 m <br />) +
sometimes longer +
fusiform +
1-10-veined +
subtending +
linear-lanceolate +
subequal +
0.63 cm6.3 mm <br />0.0063 m <br /> (1.3 cm13 mm <br />0.013 m <br />) +
membranous +
uncinate +
0.07 cm0.7 mm <br />7.0e-4 m <br /> (0.1 cm1 mm <br />0.001 m <br />) +
solid +  and hollow +
basally concentrated +  and evenly distributed +
ovate +, rectangular +  and lanceolate +
membranous +  and coriaceous or indurate +
rounded +  and acute +
0.05 cm0.5 mm <br />5.0e-4 m <br /> (0.15 cm1.5 mm <br />0.0015 m <br />) +
membranous +
inconspicuous +
lanceolate +
fleshy +  and membranous +
concealed +  and prominent +
2 +  and 1 +
well-developed +
3/4 +  and 9/10 +
reduced +
0.35 cm3.5 mm <br />0.0035 m <br /> (0.65 cm6.5 mm <br />0.0065 m <br />) +
10cm +  and 20cm +
1 cm10 mm <br />0.01 m <br /> (5 cm50 mm <br />0.05 m <br />) +
dry +  and fleshy +
not prolonged +
0.05 cm0.5 mm <br />5.0e-4 m <br /> (0.1 cm1 mm <br />0.001 m <br />) +
1 +  and 60 +
unisexual +  and bisexual +
laterally compressed +  and terete +
1 +  and 3 +
simple +  and compound +
2 (?) +  and 3 (?) +
plumose +
Stipa clandestina +  and Achnatherum clandestinum +
Amelichloa clandestina +
Amelichloa +
species +
membranous +
0.05 cm0.5 mm <br />5.0e-4 m <br /> (0.35 cm3.5 mm <br />0.0035 m <br />) +
0 cm0 mm <br />0 m <br /> (0.15 cm1.5 mm <br />0.0015 m <br />) +
inconspicuous +
plant +  and cespitose +
aquatic +  and terrestrial +
12 +, 11 +, 10 +, 8 +  and 7 +