Podophorus Phil.
Habit, vegetative morphology. Perennial (?). Culms herbaceous. Leaves not basally aggregated; non-auriculate. Leaf blades linear to linear-lanceolate; narrow; about 4–6 mm wide; flat (pilose); not pseudopetiolate; without cross venation; an unfringed membrane (but abaxially hairy); not truncate (laciniate); about 5 mm long.
Reproductive organization. Plants bisexual, with bisexual spikelets; with hermaphrodite florets.
Inflorescence. Inflorescence few spikeleted; paniculate; open; espatheate; not comprising ‘partial inflorescences’ and foliar organs. Spikelet-bearing axes persistent. Spikelets not secund; pedicellate.
Female-fertile spikelets. Spikelets 10–13 mm long; compressed laterally; disarticulating above the glumes; not disarticulating between the florets. Rachilla prolonged beyond the uppermost female-fertile floret; the rachilla extension with incomplete florets. Hairy callus present. Callus short.
Glumes two; very unequal; shorter than the spikelets; shorter than the adjacent lemmas; hairless; pointed (acute); awnless; non-carinate; fairly similar (lanceolate, herbaceous). Lower glume 3 nerved. Upper glume 5 nerved. Spikelets with incomplete florets. The incomplete florets distal to the female-fertile florets. The distal incomplete florets 1, or 2; merely underdeveloped; awned. Spikelets without proximal incomplete florets.
Female-fertile florets 1. Lemmas subcylindrical; decidedly firmer than the glumes (leathery); rigid; entire; awned. Awns 1; median; apical; non-geniculate, or geniculate (? - see illustration by Nicora and Rúgolo de Agrasar 1987); flexuous; hairless; much longer than the body of the lemma; persistent. Lemmas hairless; scabrous; non-carinate; without a germination flap; 5 nerved, or 7 nerved. Palea present; relatively long; tightly clasped by the lemma; apically notched; awnless, without apical setae; 2-nerved; 2-keeled. Lodicules present; 2; free; membranous; glabrous; toothed; not or scarcely vascularized. Stamens 2. Ovary hairy (on the top); without a conspicuous apical appendage (not at all appendaged, just hairy). Styles free to their bases. Stigmas 2; white.
Fruit, embryo and seedling. Fruit medium sized (5 mm long); with hairs confined to a terminal tuft. Hilum long-linear. Embryo small.
Abaxial leaf blade epidermis. Costal/intercostal zonation conspicuous. Papillae absent. Long-cells costal long-cells much smaller than intercostals. Mid-intercostal long-cells rectangular and fusiform; having markedly sinuous walls (and pitted, fairly thin-walled). Microhairs absent. Stomata absent or very rare. Intercostal short-cells common; in cork/silica-cell pairs (commonly); silicified. Numerous macrohairs present costally and intercostally. Costal short-cells predominantly paired. Costal silica bodies horizontally-elongated crenate/sinuous (a few), or rounded (numerous), or tall-and-narrow (a few); not sharp-pointed.
Transverse section of leaf blade, physiology. C3; XyMS+. Mesophyll with non-radiate chlorenchyma; without adaxial palisade. Leaf blade adaxially flat; with the ribs more or less constant in size. Midrib conspicuous (a larger bundle and an abaxially rounded keel); with one bundle only. Bulliforms present in discrete, regular adaxial groups; in simple fans (these large, mostly distorted by macrohairs). All the vascular bundles accompanied by sclerenchyma. Combined sclerenchyma girders present; forming ‘figures’ (all the bundles). Sclerenchyma all associated with vascular bundles.
Taxonomy. Pooideae; Poodae; Poeae.
Distribution, ecology, phytogeography. 1 species; Juan Fernandez Is. (Chile).
Neotropical. Fernandezian.
References, etc. Morphological/taxonomic: Macfarlane and Watson 1980. Leaf anatomical: this project.
Special characters for regional floras. Not in southern Africa.
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).