Grass Genera of the World

L. Watson and M. J. Dallwitz


Lindbergella Bor

Habit, vegetative morphology. Annual. Culms herbaceous. Leaves non-auriculate. Leaf blades narrow; without cross venation; an unfringed membrane; not truncate; 2–3 mm long.

Reproductive organization. Plants bisexual, with bisexual spikelets; with hermaphrodite florets. The spikelets all alike in sexuality.

Inflorescence. Inflorescence paniculate; open; without conspicuously divaricate branchlets; espatheate; not comprising ‘partial inflorescences’ and foliar organs. Spikelet-bearing axes persistent. Spikelets not secund; pedicellate (the pedicels terete).

Female-fertile spikelets. Spikelets 3–4.5 mm long; compressed laterally; disarticulating above the glumes. Rachilla prolonged beyond the uppermost female-fertile floret; the rachilla extension with incomplete florets. Hairy callus absent.

Glumes two; very unequal to more or less equal; shorter than the adjacent lemmas; pointed (acute to acuminate); awnless; carinate; similar. Lower glume 3 nerved. Upper glume 3 nerved, or 5 nerved. Spikelets with incomplete florets. The incomplete florets distal to the female-fertile florets. Spikelets without proximal incomplete florets.

Female-fertile florets 2–5. Lemmas similar in texture to the glumes (leathery); not becoming indurated; incised; 2 lobed; not deeply cleft (notched); mucronate (with a tiny ‘awn’ in the apical notch); hairy (but asperulous, not ‘webby’, with appressed hairs on the nerves); carinate; without a germination flap; 3 nerved. Palea present; relatively long; 2-nerved; 2-keeled. Lodicules present; 2; joined, or free; membranous; glabrous; toothed; not or scarcely vascularized. Stamens 3. Ovary glabrous. Styles free to their bases. Stigmas 2.

Fruit, embryo and seedling. Fruit small (2.5–2.8 mm long); compressed laterally. Hilum short. Embryo small.

Abaxial leaf blade epidermis. Costal/intercostal zonation conspicuous. Papillae absent. Long-cells markedly different in shape costally and intercostally (the costals narrower, rectangular); differing markedly in wall thickness costally and intercostally (the intercostals thin walled, the costals quite thick walled). Mid-intercostal long-cells fusiform; having straight or only gently undulating walls. Microhairs absent. Stomata fairly common. Subsidiaries non-papillate; parallel-sided. Guard-cells overlapped by the interstomatals. Intercostal short-cells absent or very rare. Strongly pointed prickles common costally. Costal short-cells neither distinctly grouped into long rows nor predominantly paired (mostly solitary, fairly infrequent). Costal silica bodies present and well developed; horizontally-elongated crenate/sinuous and horizontally-elongated smooth.

Transverse section of leaf blade, physiology. C3; XyMS+. Leaf blade adaxially flat, or with distinct, prominent adaxial ribs; with the ribs more or less constant in size (only slight ribs apparent in the collapsed material seen). Midrib conspicuous to not readily distinguishable (perhaps slightly larger and more prominent abaxially); with one bundle only. The lamina symmetrical on either side of the midrib. Bulliforms not determinable in the material seen. All the vascular bundles accompanied by sclerenchyma. Combined sclerenchyma girders absent (all the bundles seeming to have adaxial and abaxial strands). Sclerenchyma all associated with vascular bundles.

Taxonomy. Pooideae; Poodae; Poeae.

Distribution, ecology, phytogeography. 1 species; Cyprus. Species of open habitats. Rocky slopes.

Holarctic. Tethyan. Mediterranean.

References, etc. Leaf anatomical: this project.


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).

Index