Ctenium floridanum

(Hitchc.) Hitchc.
Common names: Florida orangegrass
Endemic
Treatment appears in FNA Volume 25. Treatment on page 234.

Plants perennial; rhizomatous, rhizomes scaly, slender. Culms 60-100 cm, erect. Sheaths smooth or scabridulous, not or only somewhat fibrous at maturity; ligules 1-7.9 mm; blades to 39 cm long, 5.1 mm wide, glabrous or scabrous. Panicles with 1 branch; branches 8-15 cm, often twisted. Spikelets 7-9.2 mm. Lower glumes 1.6-2 mm; upper glumes 4.6-5.7 mm, glandless or with a few inconspicuous glands on either side of the midveins, unequally bidentate, awned, awns 3.8-6.2 mm, straight to assending; lemmas pubescent on the lateral veins, awns 3-5 mm, straight; distal lemmas unawned. 2n = unknown.

Discussion

Ctenium floridanum is an uncommon endemic of Georgia and Florida, where it grows in dry to mesic pine-oak uplands and pine flatwoods. It is also cultivated, the graceful curve of its spikes making it an attractive addition to gardens.

Selected References

None.

Lower Taxa

None.