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Project Name Data (Last Modified On 10/16/2012)

Flora Data (Last Modified On 10/16/2012)
PlaceOfPublication Sp. P1. 82. 1753.
Synonym Chaetaria Beauv. Ess. Agrost. 30, p1. 8, f. 5, 6. 1812. Ortachne Nees, in Seem. Bot. Voy. Herald, 225. 1854.
Description Spikelets 1-flowered, disarticulating above the glumes; glumes usually unequal, 1-nerved, or rarely 3- to 5-nerved, acuminate or awned; lemma indurate at matur- ity, terete, convolute around the palea, glabrous or scabrous toward the tip with a sharp, entire or minutely bifid, bearded callus; awns 3, the lateral sometimes very short or wanting, sometimes united at the base in a slender twisted column. Densely tufted annuals or perennials with involute or narrow flat blades *and open or contracted, occasionally spike-like panicles.
Key a. Lateral awns wanting or very much reduced. b. Plants annual; culms freely branching; panicles narrow, the short branches spikelet-bearing to the base; central awn curved or flexuous, the lateral ones wanting - ---- 1. A. JORULLENSIS bb. Plants perennial; culms simple; panicles open, diffuse, the long branches naked below; central awn straight or arcuate, the lateral ones very much reduced - --2. A. TERNIPES aa. Lateral awns well developed, nearly as long as the central one. b. Plants annual; culms very slender, 5-25 cm. high -3. A. CAPILLACEA bb. Plants perennial; culms stouter. c. Awns twisted below into a slender column. d. Callus minutely bifid; culms 20-40 cm. high -4. A. PLANIFOLIA dd. Callus entire; culms 50 cm. to more than 1 m. high. e. Panicles dense, interrupted; lemma 3.5-4 mm. long, much shorter than the glumes; awns 10-12 mm. long, loosely coiled below - -- 5. A. RECURVATA ee. Panicles narrow but loose; lemma 8-12 mm. long, about as long as the glumes; awns 1-2.5 cm. long, divergent, not coiled 6. A. ORIZABENSIS cc. Awns not twisted; panicles 5-10 cm. long, dense, spike-like - 7. A. TINCTA