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• Dichotomous Key
• Poaceae
• Poaceae Group 1
• Tragus
• Tragus berteronianus

Tragus berteronianus — spike burgrass

Facts

Spike burgrass is an annual, mat-forming grass that is a significant invader of disturbed areas in some parts of the world, but in New England is only an occasional visitor via waste areas of ninteenth-century wool-carding factories, and ships' ballast dumps.

Habitat

Anthropogenic (man-made or disturbed habitats)

Characteristics

• Flowers

  Anther length

  0.4–0.6 mm

  Anther number

  3

  Awn on glume

  the glume has no awn

  Floret lower bract texture

  the lemma is thin and flexible

  Glume relative length

  one or both glumes are as long or longer than all of the florets

  Glume veins

  • 0
  • 5
  • 7 or more

  Inflorescence axis orientation

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

  Inflorescence branch length

  0.05–0.27 cm

  Inflorescence branches

  • the flowers are attached to branches rather than to the main axis of the inflorescence
  • there are no branch points between the base of the inflorescence axis and the flowers, or they are not obvious

  Inflorescence length

  10–130 mm

  Inflorescence type (general)

  • the inflorescence is a spike, or is spike-like, lacking obvious branches
  • 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

  Lemma awn base

  NA

  Lemma awn length

  0 mm

  Lemma awn number

  the lemma has no awn

  Lemma cross-section

  the lemma is flat or rounded 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 a simple point, with or without an awn (long narrow extension ending in a point)

  Lemma vein number

  3

  One or more florets

  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

  0.8–4.3 mm

  Spikelet pedicel

  the spikelets have pedicels

  Spikelets spiny

  the spikelets appear spiny and bur-like

• Leaves

  Leaf auricles

  the leaves do not have auricles

  Leaf blade width

  1.2–5 mm

  Leaf ligule length

  0.5–1 mm

  Leaf ligule type

  the leaf ligule is in the form of a membrane

  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
  • 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