Vulpia elliotea
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Clade: Commelinids
Order: Poales
Family: Poaceae
Genus: Vulpia
Species:
V. elliotea
Binomial name
Vulpia elliotea
(Raf.) Fern.
Synonyms

Vulpia sciurea

Vulpia elliotea, known by the common name sand fescue or squirreltail fescue, is an annual grass native to the southeastern United States. Its specific epithet elliotea is named for its discoverer, Stephen Elliott.

Description

Vulpia elliotea is an erect grass, growing up to 50 cm (20 in) in height. Its leaf sheaths are glabrous, and its blades are typically glabrous though they can be scabrous above. The involute blades are 0.5–1.5 mm (0.020–0.059 in) wide. The inflorescence is 10 cm (3.9 in) long.[1] The erect panicle has ascending spikelets 4–5 mm (0.16–0.20 in) long. The first glume is 2 mm (0.079 in) long; the second glume is 3.5 mm (0.14 in) long. The typically pubescent lemmas are 2–3.5 mm (0.079–0.138 in) long, and the awns are two to four times as long. The grass flowers from May to June.[2]

Distribution and habitat

Vulpia elliotea grows in dry, sandy prairies from New Jersey to Texas, up to southern Illinois and Missouri.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 Robert H. Mohlenbrock (2002). Grasses. Southern Illinois University Press. p. 331. ISBN 9780809323593.
  2. ↑ Merrit Lyndon Fernald (1970). R. C. Rollins (ed.). Gray's Manual of Botany (Eighth (Centennial) - Illustrated ed.). D. Van Nostrand Company. p. 108. ISBN 0-442-22250-5.
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