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• Dichotomous Key
• Poaceae
• Poaceae Group 7
• Sporobolus
• Sporobolus contractus

Sporobolus contractus — narrow-spiked dropseed

Facts

Narrow-spiked dropseed is native to southwestern North America, and an occasional visitor to New England, where it has been collected in dry to moist, sandy soils in Maine. The Apache and Navajo used the seeds for food, and the Zuni used bundles of narrow-spike dropseed stalks to make temporary shelters.

Habitat

Anthropogenic (man-made or disturbed habitats), meadows and fields

Characteristics

• Flowers

  Anther length

  0.3–0.5 mm

  Anther number

  2–3

  Awn on glume

  the glume has no awn

  Floret types within spikelet

  all the florets within a spikelet are similar

  Glume relative length

  • both glumes are as long or longer than all of the florets
  • neither glume is quite as long as all of the florets

  Glume veins

  • 0
  • 1

  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
  • there are no branch points between the base of the inflorescence axis and the flowers, or they are not obvious

  Inflorescence crowding

  the panicle is somewhat to very congested (crowded), and the branches may not be clearly seen without close inspection

  Inflorescence length

  100–500 mm

  Inflorescence length to width ratio

  50

  Inflorescence type (general)

  the inflorescence is a spike, or is spike-like, lacking obvious 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

  2–10 mm

  Lemma awn base

  NA

  Lemma awn length

  0 mm

  Lemma awn number

  the lemma has no awn

  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

  1

  One or more florets

  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

  1.7–3.2 mm

  Spikelet position

  the spikelets emerge from both the upper and lower halves of the inflorescence branches

  Spikelets spiny

  the spikelets do not appear spiny

  Upper glume shape

  the upper glume is widest at or below the middle

• Growth form

  Lifespan

  the plant lives more than two years

• Leaves

  Leaf auricles

  the leaves do not have auricles

  Leaf blade width

  3–8 mm

  Leaf ligule length

  0.4–1 mm

  Leaf ligule type

  the leaf ligule is in the form of fine hairs

  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 no hairs on the surface of the leaf sheath

• Place

  Habitat

  terrestrial

  New England state

  • Connecticut
  • Maine

  Specific habitat

  • man-made or disturbed habitats
  • meadows or fields

• Stem, shoot, branch

  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