Mnesithea cylindrica | |
---|---|
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Monocots |
Clade: | Commelinids |
Order: | Poales |
Family: | Poaceae |
Subfamily: | Panicoideae |
Genus: | Mnesithea |
Species: | M. cylindrica |
Binomial name | |
Mnesithea cylindrica (Michx.) de Koning & Sosef | |
Synonyms [1] [2] | |
|
Mnesithea cylindrica, synonyms including Coelorachis cylindrica [1] and Rottboellia campestris, [2] is a species of flowering plant in the grass family Poaceae. [1] It is known by the common names cylinder jointtail grass, [3] Carolina jointgrass, [4] and pitted jointgrass. [5] It is native to the southeastern United States. [4]
This grass is a rhizomatous perennial with cylindrical stems growing up to 1.2 meters in height. They are clothed in the sheaths of the leaves. The inflorescence is cylindrical. [6] The spikelets are pitted. [4]
In 1803, André Michaux described the species as Tripsacum cylindricum. It was transferred to the genus Coelorachis in 1909 as C. cylindrica, and to the genus Mnesithea in 1986 as Mn. cylindrica. It is also treated as synonymous with Rottboellia campestris, first described in 1835 by Thomas Nuttall. [2]
The relationship between the genera Coelorachis, Mnesithea and Rottboellia varied as of November 2024 [update] . A 2015 classification of Poaceae treated Coelorachis as a synonym of Mnesithea, [7] a view supported by a 2020 molecular phylogenetic study. [8] This species is then accepted as Mnesithea cylindrica. [1] Alternatively, Plants of the World Online, following Veldkamp et al. in 2013, [9] treated the genus Coelorachis as a synonym of Rottboellia , [10] with this species accepted as Rottboellia campestris. [2]
This grass grows on tallgrass prairies, forest edges, and sometimes roadsides. [4]
The Andropogoneae, sometimes called the sorghum tribe, are a large tribe of grasses (family Poaceae) with roughly 1,200 species in 90 genera, mainly distributed in tropical and subtropical areas. They include such important crops as maize (corn), sugarcane, and sorghum. All species in this tribe use C4 carbon fixation, which makes them competitive under warm, high-light conditions.
Chloridoideae is one of the largest subfamilies of grasses, with roughly 150 genera and 1,600 species, mainly found in arid tropical or subtropical grasslands. Within the PACMAD clade, their sister group is the Danthonioideae. The subfamily includes widespread weeds such as Bermuda grass or goosegrass, but also millet species grown in some tropical regions, namely finger millet and teff.
Brachyelytrum is a genus of North American and East Asian plants in the grass family, classified in its own tribe Brachyelytreae.
Brachypodium is a genus of plants in the grass family, widespread across much of Africa, Eurasia, and Latin America. The genus is classified in its own tribe Brachypodieae.
Ampelodesmos is a genus of Mediterranean plants in the grass family, which is known by the common names stramma, Mauritania grass, rope grass, and dis(s) grass. It is classified in its own tribe Ampelodesmeae within the grass subfamily Pooideae.
Puelia is a genus of African grasses, the only genus in the tribe Atractocarpeae. It belongs to the subfamily Puelioideae, one of the early-diverging lineages in the grasses, but used to be considered a bamboo genus.
Coelorachis is a genus of plants in the grass family, widespread across much of Asia, Africa, Australia and the Americas.
Thaumastochloa is a genus of Australian, Papuasian, and Indonesian plants in the grass family.
Ophiuros is a genus of Asia, Australian, and East African plants in the grass family.
Guaduella is a genus of African plants in the grass family, the only genus in the tribe Guaduelleae. It belongs to the subfamily Puelioideae, one of the early-diverging lineages in the grasses, but used to be included in the bamboos.
Lecomtella is a genus of grasses with the sole species Lecomtella madagascariensis, native to Madagascar. It is the only genus in the tribe Lecomtelleae.
Manisuris is a genus of Indian plants in the grass family. The only known species is Manisuris myurus, native to Tamil Nadu in Southern India.
Micraira is the only genus of tribe Micraireae in the grass family, native to Australia.
Mnesithea, or jointtail grass, is a genus of Asian, Australian, and Pacific Island plants in the grass family. The number of species placed in the genus varied considerably as of November 2024 depending in large part on how the genus Coelorachis was treated. Sources that synonymized Coelorachis with Mnesithea accepted about 26 species. Those that synonymized Coelorachis with Rottboellia accepted about seven.
Rottboellia is a genus of African, Asian, and Australian plants in the grass family.
The Stipeae are a tribe of grasses within the subfamily Pooidae, with up to 600 described species.
Danthonioideae is a mainly southern hemisphere subfamily of grasses, containing the single tribe Danthonieae and one unplaced genus, with altogether roughly 300 species. It includes herbaceous to partially woody perennial or annual (less common) grasses that grow in open grasslands, shrublands, and woodlands. It belongs to the PACMAD clade of grasses, but unlike some other lineages in that clade, grasses in the Danthonioideae exclusively use the C3 photosynthetic pathway. Its sister group is the subfamily Chloridoideae.
Lorenzochloa erectifolia is a species of perennial flowering plant in the grass family. The species is native to Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela.
Zoysieae is a tribe of grasses in subfamily Chloridoideae, with around 250 species in four genera. All species use the C4 photosynthetic pathway.
Rottboellia cochinchinensis is a species of grass known by the common names Itchgrass,Raoul grass, corngrass, Kokoma grass, Guinea-fowl grass, jointed grass, Shamwa grass and Kelly grass. It is a tall, tufted annual grass whose stems (culms) grow up to 3 metres in height with leaf-blades of up to 45 centimetres in length. The species flowers at the apex of culms in the form of spike-like racemes composed of paired spikelets. The common name Itchgrass comes from the bristly (hispid) leaf-sheath which can be irritating to the skin.