Lophopogon Hackel
Habit, vegetative morphology. Low, delicate annual, or perennial; caespitose. Culms herbaceous; branched above, or unbranched above.
Reproductive organization. Plants bisexual, with bisexual spikelets; with hermaphrodite florets. The spikelets of sexually distinct forms on the same plant; hermaphrodite and male-only; overtly heteromorphic (the pedicellate spikelets awned, the sessile members of the lower pairs awnless); in both homogamous and heterogamous combinations (the upper pairs homogamous, the lower pairs with the sessile spikelets male).
Inflorescence. Inflorescence of spicate main branches; contracted; digitate. Primary inflorescence branches 2 (the two short ‘racemes’ closely appressed to form an ovate head). Inflorescence espatheate; not comprising ‘partial inflorescences’ and foliar organs. Spikelet-bearing axes ‘racemes’; paired; with very slender rachides; disarticulating; disarticulating at the joints. ‘Articles’ disarticulating obliquely; densely long-hairy (the hairs reddish). Spikelets paired; sessile and pedicellate (the pedicel tips oblique); consistently in ‘long-and-short’ combinations; in pedicellate/sessile combinations. Pedicels of the ‘pedicellate’ spikelets free of the rachis. The ‘shorter’ spikelets male-only (in the lower part of the inflorescence), or hermaphrodite (above). The ‘longer’ spikelets hermaphrodite.
Female-sterile spikelets. The lower sessile spikelets male-only, dorsally compressed, awnless. The male spikelets with glumes; 2 floreted. The lemmas awnless.
Female-fertile spikelets. Spikelets compressed laterally; falling with the glumes. Rachilla terminated by a female-fertile floret. Callus pointed.
Glumes two; very unequal; with distinct hair tufts (G1 truncate, with transversely placed tufts, at least in upper spikelets); awned (G2 only, the awn short); very dissimilar (G1 hair-tufted, truncate, 3-toothed and awnless, the G2 short-awned). Lower glume not two-keeled; convex on the back; not pitted; distinctly nerved. Spikelets with incomplete florets. The incomplete florets proximal to the female-fertile florets. Spikelets with proximal incomplete florets. The proximal incomplete florets 1.
Female-fertile florets 1. Lemmas linear; less firm than the glumes; incised; 2 lobed; deeply cleft; awned. Awns 1; median; from a sinus; geniculate. Lemmas non-carinate; without a germination flap. Lodicules absent. Stamens 2.
Taxonomy. Panicoideae; Andropogonodae; Andropogoneae; Andropogoninae.
Distribution, ecology, phytogeography. 2 species; India. Species of open habitats.
Paleotropical. Indomalesian. Indian.
Special comments. Fruit data wanting. 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).