Saccharum ravennae

(L.) L.
Common names: Ravennagrass
Synonyms: Erianthus ravennae
Treatment appears in FNA Volume 25. Treatment on page 614.

Plants cespitose. Culms 2-4 m, glabrous; nodes glabrous. Sheaths glabrous; auricles absent; ligules 0.6-1.1 mm; blades 50-100 cm long, 5-14 mm wide, glabrous. Peduncles 40-80 cm, glabrous; panicles lanceolate; rachises 30-70 cm, glabrous; primary branches 6-20 cm, appressed or spreading; rame internodes 1-2 mm, with hairs. Sessile spikelets 4-6 mm long, 0.7-0.9 mm wide, straw-colored. Callus hairs 4-6 mm, subequal to the spikelets, white; lower glumes smooth, 4-5-veined; upper glumes 3-veined; lower lemmas 3-5 mm, 1-veined; upper lemmas subequal to the lower lemmas, without veins, entire; awns 2-5 mm, flat, straight or curved at the base; lodicule veins not extending into hairlike projections; anthers 3. Pedicels 1-3 mm, pubescent. Pedicellate spikelets similar to the sessile spikelets. 2n = 20.

Distribution

Md., Tenn., Colo., N.Mex., Ohio, Utah, Calif., Del., Mich., D.C., Kans., N.Y., Ill., Ga., Okla., Ariz., Fla., Mo.

Discussion

Saccharum ravennae is native to southern Europe and western Asia. It is grown as an ornamental in the Flora region, occasionally escaping and persisting.

Selected References

None.

Lower Taxa

None.