Crithopsis Jaub & the Spach
From the Greek krithe (barley) and opsis (appearance), from fancied resemblance of inflorescence.
Habit, vegetative morphology. Annual; caespitose. Culms 15–30 cm high; herbaceous; unbranched above. Culm nodes glabrous. Leaves not basally aggregated; auriculate. Leaf blades linear (acuminate); narrow; to 3 mm wide; flat; without cross venation; persistent; an unfringed membrane.
Reproductive organization. Plants bisexual, with bisexual spikelets; with hermaphrodite florets. The spikelets all alike in sexuality.
Inflorescence. Inflorescence a false spike, with spikelets on contracted axes (the clusters each reduced to two spikelets). Rachides flattened. Inflorescence espatheate; not comprising ‘partial inflorescences’ and foliar organs. Spikelet-bearing axes disarticulating; disarticulating at the joints. Spikelets paired; not secund; the pairs alternately distichous.
Female-fertile spikelets. Spikelets about 15 mm long; compressed laterally; falling with the glumes (and with the joint). Rachilla prolonged beyond the uppermost female-fertile floret; hairy; the rachilla extension with incomplete florets.
Glumes two; more or less equal; long relative to the adjacent lemmas; subulate; awned; non-carinate; similar (leathery, narrow, awn-like above). Lower glume 3 nerved. Upper glume 3 nerved. Spikelets with incomplete florets. The incomplete florets distal to the female-fertile florets. The distal incomplete florets 1; merely underdeveloped. Spikelets without proximal incomplete florets.
Female-fertile florets 1. Lemmas attenuate into the awn; similar in texture to the glumes (and similar to them in form); not becoming indurated; entire; pointed; awned. Awns 1; median; apical; non-geniculate; hairless (scabrid); about as long as the body of the lemma to much longer than the body of the lemma (4–7 mm long, erect); entered by several veins. Lemmas hairy, or hairless; non-carinate; 5 nerved. Palea present; relatively long; awnless, without apical setae; 2-nerved; 2-keeled. Lodicules present; 2; free; membranous; ciliate; toothed, or not toothed. Stamens 3. Anthers not penicillate. Ovary hairy. Styles free to their bases. Stigmas 2; white.
Fruit, embryo and seedling. Fruit adhering to lemma and/or palea; medium sized; longitudinally grooved; compressed dorsiventrally; with hairs confined to a terminal tuft. Hilum long-linear. Embryo small.
Cytology. Chromosome base number, x = 7. 2n = 14. 2 ploid. Haplomic genome content K.
Taxonomy. Pooideae; Triticodae; Triticeae.
Distribution, ecology, phytogeography. 1 species; North Africa & the Orient. Xerophytic; species of open habitats. In dry grassland.
Holarctic and Paleotropical. Tethyan. African. Mediterranean. Saharo-Sindian.
References, etc. Morphological/taxonomic: Löve 1984.
Special comments. Anatomical data wanting.
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).