• You are here:
• Dichotomous Key
• Poaceae
• Poaceae Group 5
• Chloris
• Chloris gayana

Chloris gayana — Rhodes windmill-grass

Facts

Rhodes windmill-grass is native to southern and eastern Africa, and widely naturalized elsewhere in Africa and around the world. It is considered one of the best forage grasses in tropical agro-ecosystems. It appears in scattered locations in southern and astern North America, and is a rare visitor to New England, having been collected only in Massachusetts.

Habitat

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

Characteristics

• Flowers

  Anther number

  3

  Awn on glume

  the glume has no awn

  Floret lower bract texture

  the lemma is thin and flexible

  Glume relative length

  neither glume is quite as long as all of the florets

  Glume veins

  • 1
  • 3

  Inflorescence arrangement

  the spikelets are uniform

  Inflorescence axis orientation

  • 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 length

  Up to 200 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 length

  4–7.7 mm

  Lemma awn number

  the lemma has one awn on it

  Lemma base hairs

  the lemma has hairs at the base

  Lemma cross-section

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

  Lemma marginal vein hairs

  the marginal vein of the lemma has fine hairs on it

  Lemma surface

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

  Lemma vein number

  • 1
  • 3
  • 5
  • 7 or more

  One or more florets

  there is more than 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

• Growth form

  Horizontal rooting stem

  • no
  • yes

  Lifespan

  the plant lives more than two years

• Leaves

  Leaf auricles

  the leaves do not have auricles

  Leaf blade width

  1.5–9 mm

  Leaf ligule type

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

  Leaf sheath hair type

  there are no hairs on the surface of the leaf sheath

• Place

  Habitat

  terrestrial

  New England state

  Massachusetts

  Specific habitat

  • man-made or disturbed habitats
  • meadows or fields

• Stem, shoot, branch

  Plant height

  100–300 cm

  Stem spacing

  • the stems grow close together in compact clusters or tufts
  • the stems grow singly or a few together (they may form diffuse colonies)

Wetland status

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

New England distribution and conservation status

From the dichotomous key of Flora Novae Angliae