Schizachyrium sanguineum

Plants cespitose. Culms 40-120 cm, erect, not rooting or branching at the lower nodes, glabrous. Sheaths glabrous, rounded; ligules 0.7-2 mm; blades 7-20 cm long, 1-6 mm wide, usually with long, papillose-based hairs basally, glabrous elsewhere, sometimes scabrous, without a longitudinal stripe of white, spongy tissue. Peduncles 4-6 cm; rames 4-15 cm, not open, usually almost fully exserted at maturity; internodes 4-6 mm, straight, from mostly glabrous with a tuft of hairs at the base to densely hirsute all over. Sessile spikelets 5-9 mm; calluses 0.5-1 mm, hairs to 2 mm; lower glumes glabrous or densely pubescent; upper lemmas cleft for (2/3)3/4-7/8 of their length; awns 15-25 mm. Pedicels 3-6 mm long, 0.3-0.5 mm wide at the base, gradually widening to about 0.6-0.8 mm at the top, straight. Pedicellate spikelets 3-5 mm, usually evidently shorter than the sessile spikelets, sterile or staminate, awned, awns 0.3-6 mm.

Distribution

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• Legacy Map

Puerto Rico, N.Mex., Tex., Virgin Islands, Ala., Ga., Ariz., Fla.

Discussion

Schizachyrium sanguineum extends from the southern United States to Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay.

Selected References

None.

Lower Taxa

Schizachyrium sanguineum var. hirtiflorum, Schizachyrium sanguineum var. sanguineum

Key

1	Lower glumes of the sessile spikelets glabrous or scabrous; pedicels ciliate on 1 edge	Schizachyrium sanguineum var. sanguineum
1	Lower glumes of the sessile spikelets pubescent to hirsute; pedicels ciliate on both edges	Schizachyrium sanguineum var. hirtiflorum