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• Echinochloa muricata

Echinochloa muricata — American barnyard grass

Facts

American barnyard grass is found in damp, sandy shores, fields and disturbed areas in all New England states. Archaeological evidence suggests that the plant was used prehistorically for thatching and matting and the seeds were possibly used for food.

Habitat

Anthropogenic (man-made or disturbed habitats), meadows and fields, shores of rivers or lakes

Characteristics

• Flowers

  Anther length

  0.4–1.1 mm

  Anther number

  3

  Awn on glume

  • the glume has an awn
  • the glume has no awn

  Bristles below spikelets

  no

  Floret lower bract texture

  the lemma is hard and firm

  Floret number

  1–2

  Floret types within spikelet

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

  Glume awn length

  At least 0 mm

  Glume keel

  the glume keels are rough or hairy

  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 shape

  the glume is flat or curved in cross-section

  Glume veins

  • 0
  • 1
  • 3
  • 5
  • 7 or more

  Glumes per spikelet

  2

  Inflorescence arrangement

  the spikelets are uniform

  Inflorescence axis hairs

  • the inflorescence axis is hairy but not rough or sand-papery feeling
  • the inflorescence axis is smooth and has no hairs

  Inflorescence axis orientation

  • the inflorescence axis is arched or curved outward
  • the inflorescence axis is straight

  Inflorescence branch length

  2–8 cm

  Inflorescence branch roughness

  the inflorescence branches are smooth or only slightly rough

  Inflorescence branches

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

  Inflorescence branches coming off the lowest stem node

  1

  Inflorescence crowding

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

  Inflorescence length

  70–350 mm

  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

  Inforescence position

  the spikelets are mainly carried at the end of the stem

  Lemma awn base

  • NA
  • 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

  0–16 mm

  Lemma awn number

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

  Lemma awn orientation

  the awn of the lemma is straight

  Lemma base hair length

  0 mm

  Lemma base hairs

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

  Lemma base length

  0 mm

  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

  the keel of the lemma is rough, or has fine hairs

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

  Lemma vein number

  5

  Lower glume length

  0.9–2.6 mm

  Lower glume relative length

  the lower glume is one third to three quarters as long as the upper glume

  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

  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 below the glumes

  Spikelet length

  2.5–5 mm

  Spikelet number per node

  0

  Spikelet pedicel

  • the spikelets do not have pedicels
  • the spikelets have pedicels

  Spikelet position

  the spikelets emerge from both the upper and lower halves of the inflorescence branches

  Spikelet width

  1.4–2.2 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

  2.8–5 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 at or below the middle

• Fruits or seeds

  Seed length

  1.2–2.5 mm

• 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

  Basal leaves

  the plant has few or no leaves coming from the base of the flowering stem

  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 length

  1–27 cm

  Leaf blade texture

  the leaf blade is rough and sandpapery

  Leaf blade width

  0.8–30 mm

  Leaf ligule length

  0 mm

  Leaf ligule type

  the leaf ligule is absent

  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 hair type

  there are no hairs on the surface of the leaf sheath

  Leaf sheath hairs

  there are no hairs on the surface of the leaf sheath

• Place

  Habitat

  • terrestrial
  • wetlands

  New England state

  • Connecticut
  • Maine
  • Massachusetts
  • New Hampshire
  • Rhode Island
  • Vermont

  Specific habitat

  • man-made or disturbed habitats
  • meadows or fields
  • shores of rivers or lakes

• Stem, shoot, branch

  Hairs at nodes

  the stem nodes are hairless or they have very sparse hairs

  Plant height

  80–160 cm

  Roots at lower stem nodes

  • no
  • yes

  Stem hairs

  • the stem has hairs on it
  • the stem is nearly to completely hairless

  Stem orientation

  • the stems are upright
  • the stems trail at the base, but turn upwards at the tips

  Stem spacing

  the stems grow close together in compact clusters or tufts

Wetland status

Occurs only in wetlands. (Wetland indicator code: OBL)

New England distribution and conservation status

From the dichotomous key of Flora Novae Angliae