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Alopecurus

Alopecurus
Family: Poaceae
Alopecurus image
Max Licher
  • FNA
  • Gleason & Cronquist
  • Resources
William J. Crins. Flora of North America
Plants annual or perennial; sometimes shortly rhizomatous, cespitose or occasionally the culms solitary. Culms 5-110 cm, erect or decumbent, occasionally cormlike at the base; nodes glabrous. Leaves inserted mostly on the lower 1/2 of the culms; sheaths open; auricles absent; ligules 0.6-6.5 mm, truncate to acute, membranous, dorsally puberulent or glabrous, entire to lacerate; blades 0.7-12 mm wide, flat or involute, glabrous or scabrous, those of the uppermost leaves sometimes short or absent. Inflorescences terminal panicles, spikelike, capitate to cylindrical; branches usually less than 5 mm, lower branches sometimes to 2 cm; disarticulation below the glumes. Spikelets 1.8-7 mm, pedicellate, strongly laterally compressed, with 1 floret; rachilla prolongations absent. Glumes equaling or exceeding the florets, membranous or coriaceous, free or connate basally to more than 1/2 their length, 3-veined, keeled, keels ciliate, at least basally, apices obtuse to acute or shortly awned; calluses blunt, glabrous; lemmas membranous, margins often connate basally to 1/2 their length, keeled, indistinctly 3-5-veined, apices truncate to acute, awned dorsally, awns arising from just above the base to about midpoint, geniculate or straight; paleas absent or greatly reduced; lodicules absent; anthers 3, 0.3-4.1 mm; ovaries glabrous; styles fused, with 2 branches. Caryopses glabrous; hila short. x = 7. Name from the Greek alopex, fox, and oura, tail, referring to the cylindrical panicles.

Link to key to species in North America north of Mexico. 

Vascular plants of NE US and adjacent Canada
Spikelets 1-fld, articulated below the glumes; pedicels conspicuously swollen at the joint; glumes equal, 3-veined, strongly compressed and keeled, ±connate at base, especially on the adaxial side; lemma thin and membranous, about as long as the glumes, 5-veined, the margins often ±connate, the midvein excurrent into an awn; palea in ours minute or none; low annuals and perennials with flat lvs, membranous ligule, and dense, cylindric or subcylindric, spike-like panicles. 25, N. Temp.

Gleason, Henry A. & Cronquist, Arthur J. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. lxxv + 910 pp.

©The New York Botanical Garden. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
Species within inventory project: Arizona Flora
Alopecurus aequalis
Media resource of Alopecurus aequalis
Map not
Available
Alopecurus arundinaceus
Media resource of Alopecurus arundinaceus
Map not
Available
Alopecurus carolinianus
Media resource of Alopecurus carolinianus
Map not
Available
Alopecurus geniculatus
Media resource of Alopecurus geniculatus
Map not
Available
Alopecurus pratensis
Media resource of Alopecurus pratensis
Map not
Available
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This project was made possible in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services [MG-70-19-0057-19].

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