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Fimbristylis miliacea

(Grasslike Fimbry)

Common Names

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Common Names in English:

Grasslike Fimbry

Description

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Family Cyperaceae

Herbs, annual or perennial , cespitose or not, rhizomatous or not, stoloniferous or not. Roots fibrous , principally adventitious. Stems (culms ) usually trigonous , occasionally terete , rarely compressed , usually solid, rarely hollow or septate . Leaves basal and/or cauline, alternate, usually 3-ranked, rarely 2-ranked or multi-ranked, bases forming cylindric sheaths enclosing stem, margins usually fused; junction of sheaths and blades often with adaxial flaps of tissue or fringes of hair (ligules) ; blades frequently absent from some basal leaves , rarely from cauline leaves, when present divergent or ascending , flat, folded, plicate , rolled, or terete, linear , venation parallel. Primary inflorescences (spikelets ) a shortened axis; glumaceous bracts (scales ) 1-many, spirally arranged , sometimes 2-ranked, usually appressed or ascending; scales usually all fertile , each subtending a single flower, sometimes proximal and/or distal scales empty; lateral spikes often with basal, usually empty, usually 2-keeled scale (prophyll) ; occasionally prophyll subtending and enclosing rachilla, bearing 1 pistillate , sometimes (0-) 3 staminate flowers and empty scales (Carex, Cymophyllus, and Kobresia) . Secondary inflorescences panicles, often modified to corymb, pseudoumbel, cyme (anthela), raceme , spike, or capitulum (head ), rarely single spike, usually subtended by foliaceous or, less frequently, glumaceous bracts; secondary inflorescences sometimes simulating spikelets (Carex, Cymophyllus, and Kobresia) . Flowers hypogynous, bisexual in most genera, unisexual in Scleria, Carex, Cymophyllus, and Kobresia; perianth absent or with (1-) 3-6(-30) bristles and/or scales, usually falling off with fruit; stamens usually (1-) 3, rarely more, usually distinct ; anthers basifixed ; pistils 1, 2-3(-4) -carpellate, fused, locule 1; style undivided or branches 2-3(-4) ; stigma sometimes papillate . Fruits achenes, usually trigonous or biconvex ; pericarps thin (except in Scleria) . Seeds 1; testa thin, free from pericarp; embryo basal; endosperm abundant. x = 5-ca. 100.

Genera ca. 100, species ca. 5000 (27 genera, 843 species in the flora ) : worldwide.

No consensus exists regarding the number of genera and the overall relationships of genera within Cyperaceae. The most recent account of the family (P. Goetghebeur 1998) recognized 104 genera distributed among 4 subfamilies and 14 tribes . That arrangement differs somewhat from that of J. Bruhl (1995) . With one minor exception the arrangement of the family here follows that of Goetghebeur.

The family is characterized by the occurrence of a number of unusual cytological features including: (1) chromosomes with diffuse centromeres , (2) post-reductional meiosis, and (3) pollen grains formed from tetrads in which 3 of the 4 microspores fail to develop. The first two features are found in at least some Juncaceae and are unique to the two families. Juncaceae also have pollen in tetrads, but in that family all four microspores produce pollen grains. Some species in some genera of Cyperaceae (particularly Eleocharis) possess chromosomes with localized centromeres (S. S. Bir et al. 1993) . The wide range of chromosome numbers found in Cyperaceae is largely because of agmatoploidy; polyploidy has been hypothesized for some genera, especially Eleocharis, although polyploidy has not been demonstrated unequivocally.

Because of morphologic similarities in vegetative and inflorescence characters, the family has commonly been associated with Poaceae. Cytological features discussed above clearly indicate that to be a superficial similarity . Data from rbcL studies also support the view that Cyperaceae and Poaceae are not closely related (M. R. Duvall et al. 1993b; G. M. Plunkett et al. 1995) ; they do support the concept of close relationship between Cyperaceae and Juncaceae.

For most families of flowering plants the phenological data given are flowering times. Because most Cyperaceae cannot be reliably identified when in flower, in this volume fruiting time is given for all species by season , sometimes qualified by early, mid, or late, or by months. The fruiting time has been interpreted broadly to include the period when the fruit is more or less fully formed but not yet ripe . The fruiting period provided covers the entire range of the taxon . Quite a difference between fruiting periods in different parts of the range of the species may well occur, especially for widespread species and species with extensive elevation range.

For a recent, comprehensive review of the economic importance of Cyperaceae, see D. A. Simpson and C. A. Inglis (2001) .[1]

Genus Fimbristylis

Herbs, annual or perennial , usually cespitose, rhizomatous or not. Culms sometimes solitary, scapose , stiff or flaccid , terete , compressed , or 3-5-angled, coarse or fine. Leaves basal, distichous or polystichous ; sheaths open apically, shorter than blade , with broad scarious margins ; ligule absent at junction with blade or, if present, of erect short hairs , transverse , continuous or interrupted ; blades flat or variously folded, terete, or sulcate , not prominently keeled on abaxial surface, the widest not more than 2 mm wide. Inflorescences simple or compound anthelae, rarely capitate; spikelets 1-80+, rarely single; involucral bracts 2-5, spreading or rarely erect, scalelike or leaflike. Spikelets mainly ovoid to lanceoloid or cylindric , sometimes compressed; scales 8-100+, spirally arranged , each subtending flower or proximal 1-2 empty. Flowers bisexual ; perianth absent; stamens 1-3; styles flattened or subterete, 2-3-fid, base enlarged, deciduous. Achenes biconvex or trigonous , reticulate-honeycombed.

Species well over 100: worldwide, mostly subtropical and tropical , mostly in sunny, moist to wet places.

Culms terminate in scapes; scapes are variously elongate , slender, shallowly to strongly ribbed , overtopping leaves. Leaf blades are mostly linear , compressed or thickened, rarely one facial. Involucral bracteal blades (more common than scales in Fimbristylis) are linear to setaceous , abbreviated or exceeding inflorescence. Spikelet scales are erect or ascending , rarely nearly distichous; proximal scales sterile , usually bladed, larger than fertile scales; fertile scales mostly uniform , carinate or convex , thin, medially with thicker, longitudinally ribbed band, margins entire; ribs converging apically, often short or long excurrent. Flowers are protandrous, on short rachilla joint ; filaments flattened; anthers bilocular , two- to four-sporangiate; ovary two- to three-carpellate; styles disarticulating at very base, flat, fimbriate, or slender, angular, smooth or papillose . Achenes are tumid , obscurely three ribbed, with faces and angles variously sculpted.[2]

Physical Description

Species Fimbristylis miliacea

Plants annual , cespitose, 15-50(-70) cm, glabrous , base soft; rhizomes absent. Leaves distichous, in fans, to ca. 2/3 plant height ; sheaths keeled , equitant, margins entire; ligule absent; blades bifacial (flattened in same plane as sheath), narrowly triangular linear , to 2 mm wide, margins scabrid at least distally. Inflorescences: anthela compound , usually diffuse , branched, broadening upward, often as broad as long; scapes slender, angularly ribbed and/or somewhat compressed distally, 1-1.5 mm wide or thick; involucral bracts exceeded by anthela. Spikelets dark red-brown, broadly ovoid to near round, 2-4 min; fertile scales broadly ovate to orbiculate, 1 mm, glabrous, apex broadly rounded , midrib not excurrent. Flowers: stamens 1-2; styles 3-fid, slender, base dilated, apex pubescent . Achenes pale brown, tumid , obovoid , 1 mm, apiculate , reticulate , with pits narrowly rectangular in 4-6 vertical rows per side, the longitudinal ribs most prominent and mostly warty. 2n = 10. Fruiting summer-fall, all year southward. [source]

Fimbristylis miliacea is another widespread annual weed whose origin is probably in the Asian rice belt . Two Linnaean types bear the epithet miliacea. A good argument exists that Vahl, first to adopt the plant as a Fimbristylis, took the round-spikeleted element as F. miliacea; the other, ovoid, acute-spikeleted element thus became F. quinquangularis (Vahl) Kunth. [source]

Because Gaudichaud's epithet littoralis was not applied to the complex until 1826, it is invalidated in any case. [source]

Habitat

Moist to wet sands and alluvia of open river and stream bottoms , low fields , drawdowns , shores , flatwoods, savanna , seeps , and open disturbed waste places; 0-200 m [3].

Taxonomy

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Unambiguous Synonyms

  1. Fimbristylis littoralis Gaudichaud
  2. Isolepis miliacea (Linnaeus) J. Presl & C. Presl
  3. Scirpus bengalensis Persoon
  4. Scirpus microcarpus var. longispicatus M. E. Peck
  5. Scirpus microcarpus var. rubrotinctus (Fern.) M. E. jones
  6. Scirpus miliaceus Linnaeus, Syst. Nat. Ed. 10, 868. 1759
  7. Scirpus rubrotinctus Fern.
  8. Trichelostylis miliacea (Linnaeus) Nees

Notes

Name Status: Accepted Name . Latest taxonomic scrutiny: 15-Mar-2000

Name verified on 26-Jun-1998 by ARS Systematic Botanists. Last updated: 29-May-2007

Similar Species

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Members of the genus Fimbristylis

ZipcodeZoo has pages for 467 species, subspecies, varieties, forms, and cultivars in this genus. Here are just 100 of them:

F. abbreviata · F. abortiva · F. acicularis · F. actinoschoenus · F. acuminata (Pointed Fimbristylis) · F. adenolepis · F. adenolpis · F. adjuncta · F. adventitia · F. aestivalis (Summer Fimbry) · F. aestivalis var. aestivalis · F. affinis · F. africana · F. aggregata · F. aginkotensis · F. alamosana · F. alata · F. albescens · F. albicans · F. albo-viridis · F. alboviridis · F. allenii · F. ambavanensis · F. ammobia · F. amplocarpa · F. andongensis · F. androgyna · F. anisoclada · F. annua (Annual Fimbry) · F. annua var. diphylla · F. anomala · F. anpinensis · F. aphylla · F. aphyllanthoides · F. apus · F. arenicola · F. argentea · F. argillicola · F. armerioides · F. arnhemensis · F. arnottiana · F. arthrostyloides · F. arvensis · F. aspera · F. asperrima · F. atacorensis · F. atrosanguinea · F. australica · F. autumnalis (Slender Fimbristylis) · F. autumnalis var. complanata (Slender Fimbristylis) · F. bahiensis · F. baldwiniana · F. barbata · F. barteri · F. bequaertii · F. bis-umbellata · F. bis-umbellata var. elata · F. bispicata · F. bisumbellata · F. bivalvis · F. blakei · F. blepharolepis · F. blepharolepsis · F. boninensis · F. borbonica · F. brevicollis · F. brevifolia · F. brevivaginata (Glade Fimbry) · F. brizoides · F. brizoides var. pallens · F. brizoides var. tenuifolia · F. bromeliaefolia · F. brownii · F. brunneo-vaginatus · F. brunneoides · F. buergeri · F. bufonia · F. burchellii · F. caesia · F. caespitosa · F. caloptera · F. camptotricha · F. capillacea · F. capillaris · F. capillaris f. major · F. capitata · F. capitulifera · F. cardiocarpa · F. caroliniana (Carolina Fimbry) · F. caroliniana f. eucycla · F. carolinii · F. castanea (Saltmarsh Fimbristylis) · F. cephalophora · F. cephalotes · F. chevalieri · F. chinensis · F. chirigota · F. ciliata · F. cinnamomea · F. cinnamometorum

More Info

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Further Reading

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Notes

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Contributors

Data Sources

Accessed through GBIF Data Portal November 14, 2007:

Identifiers

Footnotes

  1. Peter W. Ball, A. A. Reznicek, David F. Murray "Cyperaceae". in Flora of North America Vol. 23 Page 3, 4, 192, 243, 252. Oxford University Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
  2. Robert Kral "Fimbristylis". in Flora of North America Vol. 23 Page 8, 121, 124, 126, 131, 137. Oxford University Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
  3. "Fimbristylis". in Flora of North America Vol. 23 Page 122, 130, 131. Oxford University Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
Last Revised: 7/1/2009