DELTA Sample Data
DELTA Sample Data | |
Habit, vegetative morphology. Annual, or perennial (the culms flattened). Culms 10–150 cm high; herbaceous. Culm nodes glabrous. Leaf blades linear. Ligule a fringed membrane.
Inflorescence. Plants bisexual, with bisexual spikelets. Inflorescence of spicate main branches; open, or contracted (sometimes forming a capitulum); not comprising ‘partial inflorescences’ and foliar organs. Spikelet-bearing axes persistent. Spikelets secund.
Female-fertile spikelets, florets, fruit. Spikelets 3.5–11 mm long; compressed laterally; disarticulating above the glumes, or not disarticulating (E. coracana); disarticulating between the florets (except in E. coracana). Rachilla prolonged beyond the uppermost female-fertile floret. Hairy callus absent. Glumes two; very unequal; shorter than the adjacent lemmas; awnless; carinate. Upper glume 3–5(–7) nerved. Spikelets with female-fertile florets only, or with incomplete florets. The incomplete florets distal to the female-fertile florets. Female-fertile florets 3–15. Lemmas entire; pointed, or blunt; awnless to mucronate; carinate; 3 nerved. Palea present. Lodicules present; fleshy, or membranous; glabrous. Stamens 3. Ovary glabrous. Stigmas 2; white, or brown. Fruit small (0.9–2 mm long); sculptured. Hilum short. Pericarp free.
Photosynthetic pathway, leaf blade anatomy. C4; biochemical type NAD–ME (2 species); XyMS+. Midrib conspicuous; with one bundle only. All the vascular bundles accompanied by sclerenchyma.
Taxonomy, distribution. Chloridoideae; main chloridoid assemblage. 9 species. Holarctic, Paleotropical, Neotropical, Cape, and Antarctic.
Anatomical references. Metcalfe 1960; this project.
Illustrations. • Habit and spikelet - Eleusine coracana.
The interactive key allows access to the character list, illustrations, full and partial descriptions, diagnostic descriptions, differences and similarities between taxa, lists of taxa exhibiting specified attributes, summaries of attributes within groups of taxa, and geographical distribution.
Cite this publication as: ‘Watson, L., and Dallwitz, M.J. 1998 onwards. DELTA sample data: descriptions, illustrations, identification, and information retrieval. Version: 21st September 2000. http://delta-intkey.com’.
