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• Poaceae Group 4
• Briza
• Briza minor

Briza minor — little quaking grass

Facts

Little quaking grass is an annual grass native to Europe, northern Africa and western Asia, and widely introduced in southern and western North America. It is much less widespread in New England than its close relative, perennial quaking grass (Briza media), having been collected only in Connecticut. Its common name is due to the attractive spikelets that hang from a threadlike rachis and sway or "quake" in the slightest breeze.

Habitat

Anthropogenic (man-made or disturbed habitats), meadows and fields

Characteristics

• Flowers

  Anther length

  0.4–0.5 mm

  Anther number

  3

  Awn on glume

  the glume has no awn

  Bristles below spikelets

  no

  Floret lower bract texture

  the lemma is thin and flexible

  Floret number

  4–13

  Floret types within spikelet

  all the florets within a spikelet are similar

  Glume awn length

  0 mm

  Glume keel

  NA

  Glume relative length

  neither glume is quite as long as all of the florets

  Glume shape

  the glume is flat or curved in cross-section

  Glume veins

  • 3
  • 5
  • 7 or more

  Glumes per spikelet

  2

  Inflorescence arrangement

  the spikelets are uniform

  Inflorescence axis orientation

  the inflorescence axis is straight

  Inflorescence branch roughness

  the inflorescence branches are somewhat to very rough

  Inflorescence branches

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

  Inflorescence crowding

  the panicle is somewhat to very spread out, with clearly-evident branches

  Inflorescence length

  20–180 mm

  Inflorescence length to width ratio

  1–1.5

  Inflorescence type (general)

  the spikelets are borne on stalks or on branches

  Inflorescence type (specific)

  the inflorescence is branched, and the branches do NOT both grow from the same side of the plant AND look like spikes

  Inflorescence width

  20–120 mm

  Inforescence position

  the spikelets are mainly carried at the end of the stem

  Lemma awn base

  NA

  Lemma awn coiled

  NA

  Lemma awn length

  0 mm

  Lemma awn number

  the lemma has no awn

  Lemma awn orientation

  NA

  Lemma base hair length

  0 mm

  Lemma base hairs

  the lemma is hairless or feels just a tiny bit rough at the base

  Lemma cross-section

  the lemma is flat or rounded if you cut across the midpoint

  Lemma hairs

  the lemma is hairless between the veins

  Lemma keel hairs

  NA

  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)

  Lemma tip shape

  the lemma tip tapers to a broad point (it may or may not also have an awn or teeth at the tip)

  Lemma vein number

  7 or more

  Lemma vein orientation

  the veins on the lemma come together near the tip

  Lower glume length

  2–2.5 mm

  Lower glume relative length

  the lower glume is nearly as long, or as long as, the upper glume

  One or more florets

  there is more than one floret per spikelet

  Palea length

  1.6–3 mm

  Palea relative length

  palea is one half to fully as long as lemma

  Reproductive system

  all the flowers on the plant have both carpels and stamens (synoecious)

  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

  2–7 mm

  Spikelet number per node

  Up to 0

  Spikelet pedicel

  the spikelets have pedicels

  Spikelet pedicel length

  4–15 mm

  Spikelet shape

  • the spikelets are orbicular (circular) in profile
  • the spikelets are ovate (egg-shaped, widest below the middle with rounded ends) in profile

  Spikelet width

  2.5–4 mm

  Spikelets spiny

  the spikelets do not appear spiny

  Tip of glume

  the tip of the glume is not divided (though it may have an awn on it)

  Upper glume length

  2–3.5 mm

  Upper glume relative length

  the upper glume is more than one half as long as the lowest lemma

  Upper glume shape

  • the upper glume is widest above the middle
  • the upper glume is widest at or below the middle

• Fruits or seeds

  Seed length

  0.8–1 mm

• Growth form

  Lifespan

  the plant lives only a single year or less

• Leaves

  Leaf auricles

  the leaves do not have auricles

  Leaf basal lobe hairy

  NA

  Leaf blade cross-section

  the leaf blade is more or less flat in cross-section, or slightly folded or rolled inwards

  Leaf blade hairs

  the leaf blade is hairless, but it may have tiny prickles that give it a sand-papery feel

  Leaf blade length

  5.5–12 cm

  Leaf blade texture

  the leaf blade is rough and sandpapery

  Leaf blade width

  1–10 mm

  Leaf ligule length

  4–13 mm

  Leaf ligule type

  the leaf ligule is in the form of a membrane

  Leaf margin glands

  there are no glands along the edges of the leaf blade

  Leaf sheath closed around stem

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

  Leaf sheath color and persistence

  the leaf sheathes are off-white to light-brown and mostly persist in older leaves

  Orientation of topmost leaf

  • the flag leaf is held outward at more than a 45 degree angle from the stem, or it curves downwards from the horizontal
  • the flag leaf is held upright, or at less than a 45 degree angle out from the stem

• Place

  Habitat

  terrestrial

  New England state

  Connecticut

  Specific habitat

  • man-made or disturbed habitats
  • meadows or fields

• Stem, shoot, branch

  Hairs at nodes

  the stem nodes are hairless or they have very sparse hairs

  Plant height

  7.5–80 cm

  Roots at lower stem nodes

  no

  Stem hairs

  the stem is nearly to completely hairless

  Stem orientation

  the stems are upright

  Stem spacing

  the stems grow close together in compact clusters or tufts

Wetland status

Usually occurs in wetlands, but occasionally in non-wetlands. (Wetland indicator code: FACW)

New England distribution and conservation status

From the dichotomous key of Flora Novae Angliae