View source for Achnatherum perplexum

{{Treatment/ID
|accepted_name=Achnatherum perplexum
|accepted_authority=Hoge & Barkworth
|publications=
|common_names=Perplexing needlegrass
|basionyms=
|synonyms=
|hierarchy=Poaceae;Poaceae subfam. Pooideae;Poaceae tribe Stipeae;Achnatherum;Achnatherum perplexum
|hierarchy_nav=<div class="higher-taxa"><div class="higher-taxon"><small>family</small>[[Poaceae]]</div><div class="higher-taxon"><small>subfamily</small>[[Poaceae subfam. Pooideae]]</div><div class="higher-taxon"><small>tribe</small>[[Poaceae tribe Stipeae]]</div><div class="higher-taxon"><small>genus</small>[[Achnatherum]]</div><div class="higher-taxon"><small>species</small>[[Achnatherum perplexum]]</div></div>
|volume=Volume 24
|mention_page=
|treatment_page=page 135
}}<!--

--><span class="statement" id="st-undefined" data-properties=""><b>Plants </b>cespitose, not rhizomatous. <b>Culms</b> 35-90 cm tall, 0.7-2.2 mm thick, lower internodes glabrous, puberulent to 5 mm below the nodes; nodes 2-3. <b>Basal</b> sheaths mostly glabrous, margins ciliolate distally; collars glabrous, including the sides; basal ligules 0.2-0.5 mm, truncate, ciliolate, cilia to 0.1 mm; upper ligules 0.2-3.5 mm, rounded to acute; blades to 30 cm long, 1-3 mm wide. <b>Panicles</b> 10-25 cm long, 0.5-1.5 cm wide; branches ascending to appressed, straight. <b>Spikelets</b> appressed to the branches. <b>Glumes</b> unequal; lower glumes 10-15 mm long, 0.5-1.1 mm wide, exceeding the upper glumes by 1-3(4) mm; florets 5.5-11 mm long, 0.7-1 mm thick, fusiform, terete, widest at or below midlength; calluses 0.4-0.6 mm, blunt; lemmas evenly hairy, hairs at midlength about 1 mm, apical hairs 1-2 mm, ascending to divergent, apical lobes 0.2-0.5 mm, membranous, flexible; awns 10-19 mm, persistent, once(twice)-geniculate, basal segments scabrous, terminal segments straight; paleas 2.8-5.6 mm, 1/2 -2/3 as long as the lemmas, hairy, hairs not or scarcely exceeding the apices, veins terminating at or before the apices, apices acute to rounded; anthers 2.5-4 mm, dehiscent, not penicillate. <b>Caryopses</b> 3-6 mm, fusiform. <b>2n</b> = unknown.</span><!--

-->{{Treatment/Body
|distribution=Ariz.;Utah;N.Mex.;Tex.
|discussion=<p><i>Achnatherum perplexum</i> grows on slopes in pinyon-pine associations of the southwestern United States and adjacent Mexico, at 1500-1700 m. It flowers in late summer to early fall. It has generally been confused with <i>A. scribneri</i>, <i>A. nelsonii</i>, and <i>A. lobatum</i>. It differs from <i>A. scribneri</i> in the glabrous collar margins of its basal leaves and its blunt calluses; from <i>A. nelsonii</i> and <i>A. lettermanii</i> in its unequal glumes; from <i>A. lettermanii</i> in its relatively short paleas; and from <i>A. lobatum</i> in its shorter lemma lobes and ascending to divergent apical lemma hairs.</p>
|tables=
|references=
}}<!--

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-->{{#Taxon:
name=Achnatherum perplexum
|authority=Hoge & Barkworth
|rank=species
|parent rank=genus
|synonyms=
|basionyms=
|family=Poaceae
|illustrator=Cindy Roché
|illustration copyright=Utah State University
|distribution=Ariz.;Utah;N.Mex.;Tex.
|reference=None
|publication title=
|publication year=
|special status=
|source xml=https://bitbucket.org/aafc-mbb/fna-data-curation/src/200273ad09963decb8fc72550212de541d86569d/coarse_grained_fna_xml/V24/V24_181.xml
|subfamily=Poaceae subfam. Pooideae
|tribe=Poaceae tribe Stipeae
|genus=Achnatherum
|species=Achnatherum perplexum
}}<!--

-->[[Category:Treatment]][[Category:Achnatherum]]