Sourgrass | |
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Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Monocots |
Clade: | Commelinids |
Order: | Poales |
Family: | Poaceae |
Subfamily: | Panicoideae |
Genus: | Digitaria |
Species: | D. insularis |
Binomial name | |
Digitaria insularis | |
Synonyms [2] | |
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Digitaria insularis is a species of grass commonly known as sourgrass. It is native to Central and South America and the southern parts of the United States and has been introduced into other parts of the world. It was first described by the German botanist Friedrich Karl Georg Fedde in 1904.
Digitaria insularis is a tufted perennial bunchgrass with very short, swollen rhizomes. The stems reach a height of 80–130 cm and are erect, branched from the lower and middle nodes, swollen bases, with woolly bracts, glabrous internodes and nodes. Sheaths papillose - pilose in their majority, ligule 4–6 mm long, blades linear, 20–50 cm long and 10–20 mm wide. Inflorescence 20–35 cm long, numerous clusters, 10–15 cm long, solitary triquetrous rachis of clusters, 0.4-0.7 mm wide, scabrous; spikelets lanceolate, 4.2-4.6 mm long, paired, caudate, densely covered with trichomes up to 6 mm long, brown or whitish, ranging up to 5 mm from the apex of the spikelet; lower glume triangular to ovate, to 0.6 mm long, enervate, membranous; upper glume 3.5-4.5 mm long, acute, 3-5 nerved, ciliated; inferior lemma as long as spikelet, acuminate, 7-nerved, covered with silky hairs, upper lemma 3.2-3.6 mm long, acuminate, dark brown; anthers 1-1.2 mm long. [3]
Digitaria insularis is native to the tropical and sub-tropical Americas. [4]
It is a common species found in disturbed areas and on beaches, at an altitude of up to 1,400 m (4,593 ft) above sea level.
In its native Brazil, Paraguay, Bolivia and Venezuela it is a pervasive weed out of its natural habitats. It has been introduced in tropical Asia and some Pacific islands and elsewhere. In some countries into which it has been introduced such as Hawaii and Papua New Guinea, it is considered an invasive species. [5]
Melica ciliata, the hairy melic or silky spike melic, is a species of flowering plant in the grass family Poaceae, native to Europe, north Africa and temperate Asia. It has been introduced to South Australia.
Oplismenus compositus, the running mountaingrass, is a species of perennial plant from the family Poaceae that can be found throughout Asia, Africa, Australia, South America, Mexico and Hawaii.
Melica amethystina is a grass species in the family Poaceae that can be found in southern Europe.
Melica animarum is a species of grass that is endemic to Sierra de las Ánimas in Uruguay.
Oplismenus thwaitesii is a flowering plant that is endemic to India.
Melica teneriffae, is a grass species in the family Poaceae that is endemic to the Canary Islands.
Melica tibetica, is a grass species in the family Poaceae that is endemic to China and can be found in such provinces as Inner Mongolia, Qinghai, Sichuan, and Tibetan Autonomous Region.
Melica racemosa is a species of grass that is endemic to South Africa.
Melica hyalina is a species of grass found in Brazil and southern South America.
Melica hunzikeri is a species of grass that is endemic to southern South America.
Melica minor is a species of grass in the family Poaceae. It is endemic to Caucasus.
Melica minuta is a species of grass that can be found in the Mediterranean Basin, from Portugal and Morocco to the Eastern Mediterranean.
Calamagrostis varia is a species of flowering plant from the family Poaceae which is native to Europe.
Calamagrostis villosa is a species of flowering plant from the family Poaceae which is native to Europe.
Festuca beckeri is a species of grass which can be found in Central and Western Asia, and also in Europe.
Festuca pseudodalmatica is a species of grass which can be found in Central, Eastern and southeastern Europe.
Festuca psammophila is a species of grass which is endemic to Central Europe.
Festuca porcii is a species of grass which can be found in Central, Eastern, and southeastern parts of Europe.
Aristida rufescens is a grass species native to Madagascar and to Mayotte in the Comoros archipelago. It was described by German agrostologist Ernst Gottlieb von Steudel in 1854.
Loudetia simplex is a grass species found in tropical and Southern Africa and Madagascar. It was originally described as a Tristachya species by Christian Gottfried Daniel Nees von Esenbeck in 1841 and was transferred to Loudetia by Charles Edward Hubbard in 1934.