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• Dichotomous Key
• Poaceae
• Poaceae Group 10
• Echinochloa
• Echinochloa walteri

Echinochloa walteri — coast barnyard grass

Facts

Coast barnyard grass is a native grass of southeastern New England, where it inhabits shorelines and upper edges of saltmarshes and other low, wet areas. The species is named for Thomas Walter (1740-1789), an American botanist who produced the first complete catalog of the plants of South Carolina (the heart of the range for this grass).

Habitat

Brackish or salt marshes and flats, floodplain (river or stream floodplains), shores of rivers or lakes, wetland margins (edges of wetlands)

Characteristics

• Flowers

  Anther length

  0.6–1.2 mm

  Anther number

  3

  Awn on glume

  • the glume has an awn
  • the glume has no awn

  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 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

  • 0
  • 1
  • 3
  • 5
  • 7 or more

  Inflorescence arrangement

  the spikelets are uniform

  Inflorescence axis orientation

  • the inflorescence axis is arched or curved outward
  • the inflorescence axis is straight

  Inflorescence branches

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

  Inflorescence length

  85–350 mm

  Inflorescence type (general)

  the spikelets are borne on stalks or on branches

  Inflorescence type (specific)

  the inflorescence is branched and the branches all grow from the same side of the plant and look like spikes

  Lemma awn base

  • NA
  • the awn is attached right at the tip of the lemma

  Lemma awn length

  0–60 mm

  Lemma awn number

  • the lemma has no awn
  • the lemma has one awn on it

  Lemma cross-section

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

  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

  5

  One or more florets

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

  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 length

  3–5 mm

  Spikelets spiny

  the spikelets do not appear spiny

  Upper glume shape

  the upper glume is widest at or below the middle

• Leaves

  Leaf auricles

  the leaves do not have auricles

  Leaf blade width

  10–60 mm

  Leaf ligule length

  0 mm

  Leaf ligule type

  the leaf ligule is absent

  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 hair type

  • there are hairs on the surface of the leaf sheath, and some of the hairs have blisters at their bases
  • there are no hairs on the surface of the leaf sheath

  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

  wetlands

  New England state

  • Connecticut
  • Massachusetts
  • New Hampshire
  • Rhode Island

  Specific habitat

  • brackish or salt marshes and flats
  • edges of wetlands
  • river or stream floodplains
  • shores of rivers or lakes

• Stem, shoot, branch

  Hairs at nodes

  the stem nodes have hairs that stand out at a shallow angle, or they curve downwards

  Stem spacing

  the stems grow close together in compact clusters or tufts

Wetland status

Occurs only in wetlands. (Wetland indicator code: OBL)

New England distribution and conservation status

From the dichotomous key of Flora Novae Angliae