Catapodium Link
From the Greek kata (under, downward) and podion (diminutive of pous, foot, stalk or pedicel) - allusion obscure.
Including Scleropoa Griseb., Synaphe Dulac
Sometimes referred to Desmazeria
Habit, vegetative morphology. Annual; caespitose (or the culms solitary). Culms 10–50(–60) cm high; herbaceous; unbranched above; 2–7 noded. Culm nodes exposed, or hidden by leaf sheaths; glabrous. Culm internodes hollow. Leaves not basally aggregated; non-auriculate. Leaf blades linear; narrow; 1–4.8 mm wide; flat, or folded, or rolled (sometimes involute or convolute when dry); without cross venation; persistent; an unfringed membrane; truncate; 0.5–3 mm long.
Reproductive organization. Plants bisexual, with bisexual spikelets; with hermaphrodite florets. The spikelets all alike in sexuality. Plants inbreeding; exposed-cleistogamous, or chasmogamous.
Inflorescence. Inflorescence a single raceme, or paniculate (rigid, spikelike, with or without branches in the proximal part); open, or contracted (the branches with small adaxial pulvini). Primary inflorescence branches when these occur, borne biseriately on one side of the main axis. Inflorescence espatheate; not comprising ‘partial inflorescences’ and foliar organs. Spikelet-bearing axes persistent. Spikelets secund (appressed to one side of the axis); biseriate; pedicellate (the pedicels short, thick).
Female-fertile spikelets. Spikelets 4–9(–10.2) mm long; oblong, or elliptic; compressed laterally; disarticulating above the glumes; disarticulating between the florets. Rachilla prolonged beyond the uppermost female-fertile floret; hairless; the rachilla extension with incomplete florets. Hairy callus absent.
Glumes present; two; more or less equal; shorter than the spikelets; shorter than the adjacent lemmas; lateral to the rachis; pointed; awnless; carinate; very dissimilar to similar (leathery, the lower lanceolate, the upper ovate). Lower glume 1–3 nerved. Upper glume 1 nerved, or 3 nerved, or 5 nerved. Spikelets with incomplete florets. The incomplete florets distal to the female-fertile florets. The distal incomplete florets 1; merely underdeveloped (much reduced); awnless. Spikelets without proximal incomplete florets.
Female-fertile florets (3–)4–11(–12). Lemmas dorsally rounded and glabrous basally, by contrast with Desmazeria; less firm than the glumes to similar in texture to the glumes (membranous or leathery); not becoming indurated; entire; blunt; awnless; hairless; glabrous (at least towards the base); non-carinate; without a germination flap; 5 nerved. Palea present; relatively long; tightly clasped by the lemma; 2-nerved; 2-keeled. Palea keels wingless. Lodicules present; 2; free; membranous; glabrous; toothed, or not toothed. Stamens 3. Anthers 0.4–0.9 mm long; not penicillate. Ovary glabrous. Styles free to their bases. Stigmas 2; white.
Fruit, embryo and seedling. Fruit free from both lemma and palea; small (1.5–2 mm long); ellipsoid; shallowly longitudinally grooved (ventrally); compressed dorsiventrally (ventrally). Hilum short. Embryo small; not waisted. Endosperm hard; with lipid. Embryo with an epiblast; without a scutellar tail; with a negligible mesocotyl internode. Embryonic leaf margins meeting.
Seedling with a tight coleoptile. First seedling leaf with a well-developed lamina. The lamina narrow; 3 veined.
Abaxial leaf blade epidermis. Costal/intercostal zonation conspicuous. Papillae absent. Long-cells similar in shape costally and intercostally; of similar wall thickness costally and intercostally (thin walled). Mid-intercostal long-cells rectangular; having straight or only gently undulating walls. Microhairs absent. Stomata absent or very rare (C. loliaceum), or common (C. rigidum); in C. rigidum 24–30 microns long. Subsidiaries parallel-sided. Guard-cells overlapped by the interstomatals, or overlapping to flush with the interstomatals. Intercostal short-cells absent or very rare; when present, in cork/silica-cell pairs; silicified. Costal short-cells neither distinctly grouped into long rows nor predominantly paired. Costal silica bodies horizontally-elongated crenate/sinuous, or horizontally-elongated smooth, or rounded.
Transverse section of leaf blade, physiology. C3; XyMS+. Mesophyll with non-radiate chlorenchyma. Leaf blade with distinct, prominent adaxial ribs; with the ribs more or less constant in size. Midrib conspicuous; with one bundle only. Bulliforms present in discrete, regular adaxial groups (in the furrows); in simple fans. All the vascular bundles accompanied by sclerenchyma. Combined sclerenchyma girders absent. Sclerenchyma all associated with vascular bundles.
Cytology. Chromosome base number, x = 7. 2n = 14. 2 ploid. Chromosomes ‘large’. Mean diploid 2c DNA value 9.6 pg.
Taxonomy. Pooideae; Poodae; Poeae.
Distribution, ecology, phytogeography. 2 species; Europe, Mediterranean. Commonly adventive. Mesophytic to xerophytic; species of open habitats; halophytic, or glycophytic. In dry microhabitats, including maritime sand.
Holarctic. Boreal and Tethyan. Euro-Siberian. Mediterranean and Irano-Turanian. European.
Rusts and smuts. Rusts — Puccinia. Taxonomically wide-ranging species: Puccinia graminis and ‘Uromyces’ dactylidis.
Economic importance. Significant weed species: C. rigidum.
References, etc. Leaf anatomical: Metcalfe 1960 and this project.
Illustrations. • General aspect. • General aspect. • Inflorescence detail. • Spikelet
Cite this publication as: Watson, L., and Dallwitz, M. J. (1992 onwards). ‘Grass Genera of the World: Descriptions, Illustrations, Identification, and Information Retrieval; including Synonyms, Morphology, Anatomy, Physiology, Phytochemistry, Cytology, Classification, Pathogens, World and Local Distribution, and References.’ http://biodiversity.uno.edu/delta/. Version: 18th August 1999. Dallwitz (1980), Dallwitz, Paine and Zurcher (1993 onwards, 1998), and Watson and Dallwitz (1994), and Watson, Dallwitz, and Johnston (1986) should also be cited (see References).
