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Bouteloua simplex — mat grama

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Facts

Mat grama is native to Wyoming and south through Mexico, Central America, and western South America as far as Chile and Argentina. It is rarely found in New England, having visited the waste dump of a nineteenth-century wool carding factory in Maine.

Habitat

Anthropogenic (man-made or disturbed habitats)

New England distribution

Adapted from BONAP data

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North America distribution

Adapted from BONAP data

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Characteristics

Habitat
terrestrial
New England state
Maine
Leaf blade width
0.5–1.5 mm
Inflorescence branches
the flowers are attached to branches rather than to the main axis of the inflorescence
Spikelet length
3.5–5 mm
Awn on glume
the glume has no awn
One or more florets
  • there is more than one floret per spikelet
  • there is one floret per spikelet
Lemma awn length
Up to 2 mm
Leaf ligule length
0.1–0.2 mm
Show all characteristics
  • Flowers

    Anther number
    3
    Awn on glume
    the glume has no 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 veins
    1
    Inflorescence arrangement
    the spikelets are uniform
    Inflorescence axis orientation
    • the inflorescence axis bends downwards or hangs
    • the inflorescence axis is arched or curved outward
    • the inflorescence axis is straight
    Inflorescence branches
    the flowers are attached to branches rather than to the main axis of the inflorescence
    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
    Up to 2 mm
    Lemma awn number
    the lemma has more than one awn on it
    Lemma surface
    the surface of the lemma is relatively smooth (not counting any longitudinal veins or hairs)
    Lemma tip
    • the lemma tip is a simple point, with or without an awn (long narrow extension ending in a point)
    • the lemma tip is split into two or more points
    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 disintegration
    the spikelet breaks off above the glumes, so that after the florets fall off, the glumes remain
    Spikelet length
    3.5–5 mm
    Spikelets spiny
    the spikelets do not appear spiny
  • Growth form

    Horizontal rooting stem
    no
    Lifespan
    the plant lives only a single year or less
    Rhizomes
    no
    Roots
    there are only slender roots on the plant
  • Leaves

    Leaf auricles
    the leaves do not have auricles
    Leaf blade width
    0.5–1.5 mm
    Leaf ligule length
    0.1–0.2 mm
    Leaf ligule type
    the leaf ligule is in the form of 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
    Maine
    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

In New England

Distribution

Connecticut
absent
Maine
present
Massachusetts
absent
New Hampshire
absent
Rhode Island
absent
Vermont
absent

Conservation status

None

From Flora Novae Angliae dichotomous key

5.  Bouteloua simplex  Lag. E

mat grama. Chondrosum prostratum (Lag.) Sweet • ME. Wool waste, disturbed ground.

Native to North America?

Yes and no (some introduced)

Sometimes confused with

Bouteloua gracilis:
upper glumes often with pustulose-based hairs on the midvein and plants perennial, often with rhizomes or stolons (vs. B. simplex, with upper glumes glabrous, sometimes scabrous distally and plant annual, without rhizomes or stolons).

Synonyms

  • Chondrosum prostratum (Lag.) Sweet

Family

Poaceae

Genus

Bouteloua