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• Bouteloua rigidiseta

Bouteloua rigidiseta — Texas grama

Facts

Texas grama is a small bunchgrass native to Texas, Oklahoma and Mexico, and a dominant species in some short-grass communities of central Texas. It is a rare tourist in New England, having been collected only in Massachusetts.

Habitat

Anthropogenic (man-made or disturbed habitats)

Characteristics

• Flowers

  Anther number

  3

  Awn on glume

  the glume has an awn

  Floret lower bract texture

  the lemma is thin and flexible

  Floret types within spikelet

  there are at least two distinct forms of florets within one spikelet

  Glume relative length

  • neither glume is quite as long as all of the florets
  • one or both glumes are as long or longer than all of the florets

  Glume veins

  1

  Inflorescence arrangement

  the spikelets are uniform

  Inflorescence axis orientation

  the inflorescence axis is straight

  Inflorescence branches

  the flowers are attached to branches rather than to the main axis of the inflorescence

  Inflorescence length

  30–60 mm

  Inflorescence type (general)

  the spikelets are borne on stalks or on branches

  Inflorescence type (specific)

  the inflorescence is branched and the branches all grow from the same side of the plant and look like spikes

  Lemma awn base

  the awn is attached right at the tip of the lemma

  Lemma awn coiled

  the lemma awn is straight or twisted, but not coiled one half turn

  Lemma awn length

  0–2 mm

  Lemma awn number

  • the lemma has more than one awn on it
  • the lemma has no awn

  Lemma cross-section

  the lemma is V-shaped if you cut across the midpoint

  Lemma surface

  the surface of the lemma is relatively smooth (not counting any longitudinal veins or hairs)

  Lemma tip

  the lemma tip is split into two or more points

  Lower glume length

  3–4 mm

  One or more florets

  • there is more than one floret per spikelet
  • there is one floret per spikelet

  Palea relative length

  palea is one half to fully as long as lemma

  Spikelet axis tip

  there is no extension of the spikelet axis beyond the tip of the spikelet

  Spikelet length

  2.5–4 mm

  Spikelets spiny

  the spikelets do not appear spiny

  Tip of glume

  • the tip of the glume is divided into two or more points
  • the tip of the glume is not divided (though it may have an awn on it)

• Growth form

  Lifespan

  the plant lives more than two years

• Leaves

  Leaf auricles

  the leaves do not have auricles

  Leaf blade width

  1–2 mm

  Leaf ligule type

  the leaf ligule is in the form of a membrane with fine hairs

  Leaf sheath closed around stem

  the margins of the leaf sheath are overlapping and not fused together except in the basal half (or less)

• Place

  Habitat

  terrestrial

  New England state

  Massachusetts

  Specific habitat

  man-made or disturbed habitats

• Stem, shoot, branch

  Stem spacing

  the stems grow close together in compact clusters or tufts

Wetland status

Not classified

New England distribution and conservation status

From the dichotomous key of Flora Novae Angliae