The grass genera of the world
The grass genera of the world | |
Habit, vegetative morphology. Perennial (shrub). The flowering culms leafy. Culms woody and persistent; cylindrical; branched above. Culm nodes 2 ridged. Primary branches/mid-culm node usually 3. Rhizomes leptomorph. Leaves not basally aggregated; with auricular setae. Leaf blades broad (large); not cordate, not sagittate; pseudopetiolate; disarticulating from the sheaths.
Reproductive organization. Plants bisexual, with bisexual spikelets; with hermaphrodite florets.
Inflorescence. Inflorescence weakly indeterminate; with pseudospikelets; ‘comprising short espatheate branches loosely grouped about a node’, the spikelets in tight clusters; spatheate, or espatheate; a complex of ‘partial inflorescences’ and intervening foliar organs, or not comprising ‘partial inflorescences’ and foliar organs (‘I. hispidula approaches a compound inflorescence, with spathiform bracts’). Spikelet-bearing axes persistent. Spikelets solitary; sessile.
Female-fertile spikelets. Spikelets compressed laterally (?); disarticulating above the glumes; disarticulating between the florets. Rachilla prolonged beyond the uppermost female-fertile floret; the rachilla extension with incomplete florets.
Glumes two; similar. Spikelets with incomplete florets. The incomplete florets distal to the female-fertile florets. Spikelets without proximal incomplete florets.
Female-fertile florets 3–20 (‘several to many’). Lemmas leathery; awnless (?). Lodicules present; 3; membranous; ciliate to glabrous; heavily vascularized. Stamens 6. Anthers without an apically prolonged connective. Ovary without a conspicuous apical appendage. Styles fused. Stigmas 3.
Fruit, embryo and seedling. Fruit large (8 mm long in I. sinica); ellipsoid.
Taxonomy. Bambusoideae; Bambusodae; Bambuseae.
Distribution, ecology, phytogeography. 12 species; Asia, especially China and Vietnam. Shade species; glycophytic. Forest and roadsides.
Paleotropical. Indomalesian. Indo-Chinese.
References, etc. Morphological/taxonomic: Chao and Chu 1983, Chao and Renvoize 1989.
Special comments. Morphological description poor. Fruit data wanting. Anatomical data wanting.
This description is offered for casual browsing only. We strongly advise against extracting comparative information from it. This is much more easily achieved using the interactive key, which allows access to the character list, illustrations, full and partial descriptions, diagnostic descriptions, differences and similarities between taxa, lists of taxa exhibiting specified attributes, summaries of attributes within groups of taxa, geographical distribution, classification, and species sampled for anatomy.
Cite this publication as: ‘Watson, L., and Dallwitz, M.J. 1992 onwards. The grass genera of the world: descriptions, illustrations, identification, and information retrieval; including synonyms, morphology, anatomy, physiology, phytochemistry, cytology, classification, pathogens, world and local distribution, and references. Version: 11th February 2012. http://delta-intkey.com’.