Tragus racemosus — stalked burgrass
![Plant form: Tragus racemosus. ~ By Luigi Rignanese. ~ Copyright © 2024. ~ luirig[at]gmail.com ~ www.luirig.altervista.org](https://newfs.s3.amazonaws.com/taxon-images-1000s1000/Poaceae/tragus-racemosus-ha-lrignanese.jpg)
![Stems and sheaths: Tragus racemosus. ~ By Luigi Rignanese. ~ Copyright © 2024. ~ luirig[at]gmail.com ~ www.luirig.altervista.org](https://newfs.s3.amazonaws.com/taxon-images-1000s1000/Poaceae/tragus-racemosus-ss-lrignanese.jpg)
![Inflorescences: Tragus racemosus. ~ By Luigi Rignanese. ~ Copyright © 2024. ~ luirig[at]gmail.com ~ www.luirig.altervista.org](https://newfs.s3.amazonaws.com/taxon-images-1000s1000/Poaceae/tragus-racemosus-in-lrignanese.jpg)
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Facts
Stalked burgrass is native to Europe, Asia and Africa, and introduced in North And South America. It is a very occasional visitor to New England, having been collected in the dump sites of nineteenth-century wool carding factories and ships' ballast dump sites in Maine.
Habitat
Anthropogenic (man-made or disturbed habitats)
New England distribution
Adapted from BONAP data
Native: indigenous.
Non-native: introduced (intentionally or unintentionally); has become naturalized.
County documented: documented to exist in the county by evidence (herbarium specimen, photograph). Also covers those considered historical (not seen in 20 years).
State documented: documented to exist in the state, but not documented to a county within the state. Also covers those considered historical (not seen in 20 years).
Note: when native and non-native populations both exist in a county, only native status is shown on the map.
Found this plant? Take a photo and post a sighting.
enlargeCharacteristics
- Habitat
- terrestrial
- New England state
- Maine
- Leaf blade width
- 1.5–4 mm
- Inflorescence branches
- the flowers are attached to branches rather than to the main axis of the inflorescence
- Spikelet length
- 0.8–6.6 mm
- Glume relative length
- one or both glumes are as long or longer than all of the florets
- Awn on glume
- the glume has no awn
- One or more florets
- there is one floret per spikelet
- Lemma awn length
- 0 mm
- Leaf ligule length
- 0.5–1.3 mm
- Anther length
- 0.6–0.8 mm
-
Flowers
- Anther length
- 0.6–0.8 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 straight
- Inflorescence branch length
- 0.21–0.48 cm
- Inflorescence branches
- the flowers are attached to branches rather than to the main axis of the inflorescence
- Inflorescence length
- 15–110 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
- Lemma awn base
- NA
- Lemma awn length
- 0 mm
- Lemma awn number
-
- the lemma has no awn
- the lemma has one awn on it
- 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
- 0.8–6.6 mm
- Spikelets spiny
- the spikelets appear spiny and bur-like
-
Leaves
- Leaf auricles
- the leaves do not have auricles
- Leaf blade width
- 1.5–4 mm
- Leaf ligule length
- 0.5–1.3 mm
- Leaf ligule type
- the leaf ligule is in the form of a membrane with 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
2. Tragus racemosus (L.) All. E
stalked burgrass. Cenchrus racemosus L.; Nazia racemosa (L.) Kuntze • ME. Wool waste, ballast.
Native to North America?
No
Sometimes confused with
- Tragus berteronianus:
- upper glume 5-veined, 1.8–4.3 mm long, with 5 longitudinal rows of spine-like projections, and panicle branches mostly 0.7–2.7 mm long (vs. T. racemosus, with upper glume 7-veined, 3.8–6.6 mm long, with mostly 6 or 7 longitudinal rows of spine-like projections, and panicle branches 2.1–4.8 mm long).
Synonyms
- Cenchrus racemosus L.
- Nazia racemosa (L.) Kuntze