Macrochloa

Kunth
Treatment appears in FNA Volume 24. Treatment on page 151.
 TaxonIllustrator 
FNA24 P59 Macrochloa pg 153.jpegMacrochloa tenacissimaAnnaliese Miller

Plants perennial; cespitose, not rhizomatous. Culms 60-170 cm, mostly smooth, scabrous beneath the panicles; basal branching intravaginal; prophylls longer than the sheaths, 2-awned, awns 2-3 cm, velutinous; nodes concealed by the sheaths. Leaves basally concentrated; cleistogenes not developed; sheaths open to the base, smooth, glabrous or hairy, hairs sometimes curly, margins extending into 2 awnlike extensions; auricles absent; ligules truncate, velutinous; blades conduplicate or convolute, about 1 mm in diameter. Inflorescences panicles, contracted, erect. Spikelets 26-30 mm, with 1 floret; rachillas not prolonged beyond the base of the floret; disarticulation above the glumes, beneath the floret. Glumes exceeding the floret, linear to lanceolate, gradually attenuate; florets 9-12 mm, terete; calluses well developed, sharp; lemmas thickly membranous to somewhat indurate, tan to brown, pubescent, margins flat, not overlapping at maturity, apices bifid, awned from between the teeth, teeth 1-6 mm, linear, scarious, awns once-geniculate, first segment twisted, terminal segment straight, scabrous; paleas equaling or exceeding the lemmas, pubescent, 2-veined, not keeled over the veins, flat between the veins, veins terminating before the apices, apices scarious, thinner than the palea body; lodicules 3, glabrous, ovate, acute, posterior lodicule smaller than the lateral lodicules; anthers 3, 10-15 mm, penicillate; ovaries glabrous; style 1, with 2 pilose branches. Caryopses fusiform; hila linear, about as long as the caryopses. x = 8.

Discussion

Macrochloa includes one to two species. It is native to the Mediterranean region, where it grows in basic and argillaceous soils. It has traditionally been included in Stipa because of its elongated florets and persistent, long awns. It differs from that genus in its strongly bifid lemmas, well-developed prophylls, lemma anatomy, and chromosome base number. The cross-sectional anatomy of its leaf blades is unique among the Stipeae (Vazquez and Barkworth 2004). One species is cultivated in the Flora region.

"decumbent" is not a number."prolonged" is not a number.

... more about "Macrochloa"
membranous +  and scarious +
penicillate +
1 cm10 mm <br />0.01 m <br /> (1.5 cm15 mm <br />0.015 m <br />) +
awned +  and bifid +
scarious +
thinner +
Francisco M. Vazquez +
twisted +  and not branched +
1 (?) +  and 3 (?) +
subterminal +  and eccentric +
velutinous +
once-geniculate +
2 cm20 mm <br />0.02 m <br /> (3 cm30 mm <br />0.03 m <br />) +
keeled +  and rounded +
pseudopetiolate +  and branching +
intravaginal +, extravaginal +, branching +  and basal +
swelling +
convolute +  and conduplicate +
1 cm10 mm <br />0.01 m <br /> (?) +
not evident +
cross +, linear +  and narrowly lanceolate +
spikelike +
perennial +  and annual +
ascending +  and erect +
intravaginal +  and basal +
60 cm600 mm <br />0.6 m <br /> (170 cm1,700 mm <br />1.7 m <br />) +
not woody +
0 +  and 1/3 +
liquid +, soft +  and hard +
capillary +
pistillate +  and staminate +
sometimes longer +
9mm +  and 12mm +
1-10-veined +
subtending +
attenuate +, linear +  and lanceolate +
membranous +
0.2 cm2 mm <br />0.002 m <br /> (0.3 cm3 mm <br />0.003 m <br />) +
solid +  and hollow +
basally concentrated +  and evenly distributed +
tan +  and brown +
ovate +, rectangular +  and lanceolate +
indurate +, membranous to somewhat +  and membranous +
inconspicuous +
acute +  and ovate +
fleshy +  and membranous +
not overlapping +
2 +  and 1 +
well-developed +
not keeled +
reduced +
exceeding the lemmas +  and equaling +
dry +  and fleshy +
not prolonged +
darke1999a +, hitchcock1951a +  and vazquez2004a +
hairy +, glabrous +  and smooth +
1 +  and 60 +
unisexual +  and bisexual +
laterally compressed +  and terete +
2.6 cm26 mm <br />0.026 m <br /> (3 cm30 mm <br />0.03 m <br />) +
1 +  and 3 +
simple +  and compound +
2 (?) +  and 3 (?) +
Gramineae +
Macrochloa +
Poaceae tribe Stipeae +
membranous +
0.1 cm1 mm <br />0.001 m <br /> (0.6 cm6 mm <br />0.006 m <br />) +
inconspicuous +
plant +  and cespitose +
aquatic +  and terrestrial +