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• Dichanthelium depauperatum

Dichanthelium depauperatum — starved rosette-panicgrass

Facts

Starved rosette-panicgrass inhabits dry open woodlands, grasslands, and rocky and sandy sites. Like the other rosette-panicgrasses, it produces normal (cleistogamous) flowers initially, then later in the season it produces self-fertilizing (chasmogamous) flowers on small inflorescences that are usually hidden within the sheathes. Both types of flowers produce viable seeds.

Habitat

Cliffs, balds, or ledges, grassland, talus and rocky slopes, woodlands

Characteristics

• Flowers

  Anther number

  Up to 3

  Awn on glume

  the glume has no awn

  Bristles below spikelets

  no

  Floret lower bract texture

  the lemma is hard and firm

  Floret number

  1–2

  Floret types within spikelet

  • NA
  • there are at least two distinct forms of florets within one spikelet

  Glume awn length

  0 mm

  Glume relative length

  both glumes are as long or longer than all of the florets

  Glume shape

  the glume is flat or curved in cross-section

  Glume veins

  • 1
  • 3
  • 5
  • 7 or more

  Glumes per spikelet

  2

  Inflorescence arrangement

  the spikelets are uniform

  Inflorescence axis orientation

  the inflorescence axis is straight

  Inflorescence branches

  the flowers are attached to branches rather than to the main axis of the inflorescence

  Inflorescence length

  30–60 mm

  Inflorescence type (general)

  the spikelets are borne on stalks or on branches

  Inflorescence type (specific)

  the inflorescence is branched, and the branches do NOT both grow from the same side of the plant AND look like spikes

  Inflorescence width

  15–30 mm

  Inforescence position

  • the spikelets are mainly carried at the end of the stem
  • the spikelets are mainly found at the nodes, in the axils of leaves, along the stem

  Lemma awn base

  NA

  Lemma awn coiled

  NA

  Lemma awn length

  0 mm

  Lemma awn number

  the lemma has no awn

  Lemma awn orientation

  NA

  Lemma cross-section

  the lemma is flat or rounded if you cut across the midpoint

  Lemma hairs

  • the lemma has fine hairs between the veins
  • the lemma is hairless between the veins

  Lemma surface

  the surface of the lemma is relatively smooth (not counting any longitudinal veins or hairs)

  Lemma tip

  the lemma tip is a simple point, with or without an awn (long narrow extension ending in a point)

  Lemma vein number

  • 3
  • 5
  • 7 or more

  Lower glume length

  1.2–1.6 mm

  One or more florets

  • there is more than one floret per spikelet
  • there is one floret per spikelet

  Palea length

  2.2–2.5 mm

  Palea relative length

  palea is one half to fully as long as lemma

  Spikelet axis tip

  there is no extension of the spikelet axis beyond the tip of the spikelet

  Spikelet disintegration

  the spikelet breaks off below the glumes

  Spikelet length

  3.2–4.3 mm

  Spikelet number per node

  0

  Spikelet pedicel

  the spikelets have pedicels

  Spikelet shape

  the spikelets are elliptic (widest in the middle, tapering to the ends) in profile

  Spikelet width

  1–1.7 mm

  Spikelets spiny

  the spikelets do not appear spiny

  Tip of glume

  the tip of the glume is not divided (though it may have an awn on it)

  Upper glume length

  3.2–4.3 mm

  Upper glume relative length

  the upper glume is more than one half as long as the lowest lemma

  Upper glume shape

  the upper glume is widest at or below the middle

• Fruits or seeds

  Groove on seed

  the caryopsis does not have a groove on it

  Seed length

  1.5–1.8 mm

• Growth form

  Horizontal rooting stem

  no

  Lifespan

  the plant lives more than two years

  Rhizomes

  no

  Roots

  the plant has a root mass with a hardened top

• Leaves

  Basal leaves

  the plant has large or prominent tufts of leaves at the base of the flowering stem

  Leaf auricles

  the leaves do not have auricles

  Leaf blade cross-section

  the leaf blade is more or less flat in cross-section, or slightly folded or rolled inwards

  Leaf blade hairs

  • the leaf blade is hairless, but it may have tiny prickles that give it a sand-papery feel
  • the leaf blade is hairy

  Leaf blade length

  6–15 cm

  Leaf blade texture

  the leaf blade is rough and sandpapery

  Leaf blade width

  1–4 mm

  Leaf ligule length

  0.5–1.5 mm

  Leaf ligule type

  the leaf ligule is in the form of fine hairs

  Leaf margin glands

  there are no glands along the edges of the leaf blade

  Leaf sheath closed around stem

  the margins of the leaf sheath are overlapping and not fused together except in the basal half (or less)

  Leaf sheath hairs

  • there are hairs on the surface of the leaf sheath
  • there are no hairs on the surface of the leaf sheath

• Place

  Habitat

  terrestrial

  New England state

  • Connecticut
  • Maine
  • Massachusetts
  • New Hampshire
  • Rhode Island
  • Vermont

  Specific habitat

  • cliffs, balds, or ledges
  • grasslands
  • talus or rocky slopes
  • woodlands

• Stem, shoot, branch

  Plant height

  10–45 cm

  Roots at lower stem nodes

  no

  Stem hairs

  the stem has hairs on it

  Stem node number

  6–12

  Stem orientation

  • the stems are upright
  • the stems trail at the base, but turn upwards at the tips

  Stem spacing

  the stems grow close together in compact clusters or tufts

Wetland status

Not classified

New England distribution and conservation status

From the dichotomous key of Flora Novae Angliae