Eragrostis minor Host
Family: Poaceae, Tribe: Eragrostideae
Pertinent Synonyms & Notes (particularly those used in California; go to GRIN for other synonyms)
Eragrostis eragrostis (L.) Beauv., E. poaeoides Beauv. ex Roemer & Schultes
Pertinent Common Names (particularly those used in California; go to GRIN for other common names)
little lovegrass
Primary Disseminule Type
caryopsis alone or ± sheathed by lemma
Description (diagnostics are in brown)
Spikelets solitary, pedicelled (pedicels 1–4 mm long, oblong, usually with glandular rings), consisting of 6–16(40) fertile florets with similar-looking though diminished sterile florets at apex, oblong to narrowly ovate, laterally compressed, 3–15 mm long x 1.3–2.2 mm wide, greenish to reddish-purple, sometimes grayish. Disarticulation between fertile florets such that the palea is persistent and the disseminule is typically the caryopsis ± sheathed by the lemma.
Glumes deciduous, similar, broadly ovate, shorter than spikelet, 0.9–1.7 mm long (0.7–0.8 length of adjacent fertile lemma), membranous, keeled (with or without glands on keel), 1–3-veined, apices acute.
Lemma broadly ovate, 1.4–2 mm long, chartaceous to membranous, somewhat transparent with tones of yellow, green, gray or purple, keeled, 3-veined, midvein eglandular or glandular, lateral veins distinct (brown or green, ribbed), apex acute to obtuse.
Palea 1.3–1.7 mm long, hyaline, 2-veined, keels smooth or scabrous, apex acute to obtuse.
Caryopsis ellipsoid to almost globular (outline oblong to round), slightly dorsally compressed, ± terete to somewhat trigonous in cross-section, 0.4–0.8 mm long x 0.3–0.5 mm wide, light to dark orangish- or reddish-brown, surface smooth to striate or reticulate, ventral side not grooved, embryo 0.4–0.6 length of caryopsis, ± same color as caryopsis, hilum ± round, dark.
Similar Species
Similar Species Comparison Chart
Risk Assessment (codes in yellow or red indicate cause for concern; assessments are current as of mid-2011; click AUQP, NZBORIC, or NZBPI for access to the most recent versions of these databases and possible assessment changes)
AUQP, NZBORIC, NZBPI