Tragus racemosus | |
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Preserved specimen of Tragus racemosus | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Monocots |
Clade: | Commelinids |
Order: | Poales |
Family: | Poaceae |
Genus: | Tragus |
Species: | T. racemosus |
Binomial name | |
Tragus racemosus (L.) All. | |
Tragus racemosus, commonly referred to as stalked bur grass, [1] European bur grass, [2] or large carrot seed grass, [3] is a species of grass native to Europe. [4] It is often confused with a similar plant of the same genus, Tragus berteronianus. [5] It is a monocot and is considered a weed in many countries and is a relatively uncommon seed contaminant. [2]
Mature Tragus racemosus plants are typically 0.5-1.5 ft. (15.24-45.72 cm) tall with clustered stems.
Leaves are mostly cauline and arranged in a distichous manner. They are typically 1.5-4 mm long and do not have auricles. [6] There is a distinct separation between the leaf blade and the leaf sheath.
Leaf blades are linear and filiform with parallel venation. They are typically 0.5-5.5 cm long and 1.5-4mm wide. [6] The surface of the leaf is mostly glabrous with ligules present.
Branches are typically 2.1-4.8 mm long, with 2-5 spikelets paired at rachis nodes. Flowers can be found attached to branches with racemouse inflorescence. They contain 3 yellow anthers between 0.6-0.8 mm [6] [5] and 2 white stigmas. [7] Proximal spikelets are 3.8-6.6 mm, second spikelets are 2.3-6.6 mm, and the third and fourth spikelets are 0.8-4.2 mm. [6] Each spikelet contains one floret with smooth lemma. Each lemma contains 3 veins.
Unlike other members of the Tragus genus who have a chromosome count of 2n=20, Tragus racemosus has a chromosome count of 2n=40.
Tragus racemosus, along with other members in the Tragus species, utilizes C4 photosynthesis. [8]
Tragus racemosus is native to Europe, Asia, and Africa. It has been specifically identified in Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czechia, Germany, Hungary, Slovakia, Spain, and the United Kingdom.
Tragus racemosus is an introduced species to North and South America [4] and has been found in established populations in Arizona [9] where it grows in sandy soil. It can occasionally be found in New England. Accounts of Tragus racemosus on the Western coast of the United States have been in manmade or disturbed habitats such as dump sites or construction sites and have not resulted in established populations. [6] It has been reported in New Mexico and Texas, but these reports have since been contributed to confusion with a similar grass species of the same genus, Tragus berteronianus. [9]
Tragus racemosus is an annual plant. As is common with other species that use C4 photosynthesis, it grows primarily in the hot and dry periods of the summer months. [8] In the northern hemisphere, it has been reported to flower in August and October. It has also been reported to produce fruit in August and October. It appears to have leaves from late July through early November. [2] [10]
Because Tragus racemosus is a grass, it can be used to reduce soil erosion in areas where it is native to. [11]
Species of the Tragus genus, including Tragus racemosus, are not suitable grasses for grazing. If these plants are found in abundance, it could suggest overgrazing, in which the other grasses suitable for grazing are eaten, eliminating competition and allowing Tragus racemosus to grow in larger quantities. [1] [12]
Lolium pratense, meadow fescue is a perennial species of grass, which is often used as an ornamental in gardens, and is also an important forage crop. It grows in meadows, roadsides, old pastures, and riversides on moist, rich soils, especially on loamy and heavy soils.
Tragus, commonly called bur gras, burr grass or carrot-seed grass, is a genus of plants in the grass family. It is native to Africa, Australia, and Eurasia with several species on islands in the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific Oceans plus one species in Argentina.
Bromus hordeaceus, the soft brome, is an annual or biennial species of grass in the grass family (Poaceae). It is also known in North America as bull grass, soft cheat, and soft chess.
Bromus interruptus, commonly known as the interrupted brome, is a flowering plant in the grass family. It is endemic to southern and central England, which became extinct in the wild in 1972. After several decades in cultivation, the interrupted brome was re-introduced to Aston Rowant National Nature Reserve in 2004, marking the first known re-introduction of an extinct plant in Britain. The plant was a weed of waste places and arable agriculture, particularly of sainfoin cultivation. It can be distinguished from all other Bromus species by its deeply split, or bifid, palea.
Bromus madritensis is a species of brome grass known by the common name compact brome. The specific epithet madritensis refers to Madrid, Spain. It has a diploid number of 28.
Bromus catharticus is a species of brome grass known by the common names rescuegrass, grazing brome, prairie grass, and Schrader's bromegrass. The specific epithet catharticus is Latin, meaning cathartic. The common name rescuegrass refers to the ability of the grass to provide forage after harsh droughts or severe winters. The grass has a diploid number of 42.
Bromus ciliatus is a species of brome grass known by the common name fringed brome. It is native to most of North America, including most of Canada, most of the United States except for some portions of the South, and northern Mexico. It is a plant of many habitats, including temperate coniferous forest. The specific epithet ciliatus is Latin for "ciliate", referring to the delicate hairs of the leaf blades.
Tuctoria is a genus of three species of grass in the family Poaceae. Spiralgrass is a common name for plants in this genus. These are bunchgrass species that are found in vernal pools of central California and Baja California, Mexico. The plants are annuals that germinate under water in the spring and grow submerged for weeks. After the pools dry down, the grasses initiate a new set of foliage that lasts for one to two months until flowering and fruiting are complete.
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.
Setaria viridis is a species of grass known by many common names, including green foxtail, green bristlegrass, and wild foxtail millet. It is sometimes considered a subspecies of Setaria italica. It is native to Eurasia, but it is known on most continents as an introduced species and is closely related to Setaria faberi, a noxious weed. It is a hardy grass which grows in many types of urban, cultivated, and disturbed habitat, including vacant lots, sidewalks, railroads, lawns, and at the margins of fields. It is the wild antecedent of the crop foxtail millet.
Lolium giganteum, giant fescue, is a woodland grass that grows on neutral to base-rich soils, often near streams or other damp places. It is native to Europe and much of Asia and has been introduced to parts of North America.
Alloteropsis semialata, known commonly as black seed grass, cockatoo grass, donkersaad gras, swartsaadgras, tweevingergras, and isi quinti, is a perennial grass distributed across much of tropical and subtropical Africa, Asia and Australia, as well as Papuasia and Madagascar. The genus name Allopteropsis comes from the Greek words "allotrios", meaning "belonging to another", and "opsis", meaning appearance. The specific epithet semialata comes from the Latin "semi" (half) and "ala" (wing), referring to the winged margins of the upper glume.
Festuca gautieri, commonly known as spiky fescue or bearskin fescue, is a species of flowering plant in the grass family, Poaceae, native to the Pyrenees. It is a commonly cultivated evergreen or semi-evergreen herbaceous perennial, and, as a native to European alpine areas, it is a small, low-growing Festuca suitable for rock gardens. It is first described in 1890.
Hyparrhenia rufa is a species of grass known by the common names jaraguá, jaraguá grass, and giant thatching grass. It is native to Africa and it is widespread in the world as a cultivated forage and fodder for livestock and a naturalized and sometimes invasive species.
Lolium rigidum is a species of annual grass. Common names by which it is known include annual ryegrass, a name also given to Italian ryegrass, rigid ryegrass, stiff darnel, Swiss ryegrass and Wimmera ryegrass. It is a native of southern Europe, northern Africa, the Middle East and the Indian subcontinent and is grown as a forage crop, particularly in Australia, where it is also a serious and economically damaging crop weed.
Sartidia perrieri is a grass species endemic to Madagascar, known from only one collected individual and now considered extinct.
Bromus squarrosus, the rough brome, is a brome grass native to Russia and Europe. The specific epithet squarrosus is Latin, meaning "with spreading tips". The grass has a diploid number of 14.
Ischaemum rugosum, also known as saramollagrass, is a flowering plant belonging to the grass family Poaceae in the genus Ischaemum, and is native to tropical and temperate regions of Asia, growing in marshes and other wet habitats. It is a vigorous annual, and is an invasive species in South America and Madagascar. It reaches heights of up to 1 m and is primarily recognized by the ridged surface of its sessile spikelet’s lower glume. Despite its historic importance as fodder in Asia, the grass has become a major weed in mid-latitude rice paddies throughout Asia and South America.
Camphorosma is a genus of flowering plants in the family Amaranthaceae, found in northern Africa, southern and eastern Europe, Crimea, Russia, Anatolia, the Caucasus, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Central Asia, the Altai, western Siberia, Xinjiang in China, and Mongolia. Annuals or subshrubs, they can be distinguished from closely related taxa such as Bassia by their flattened perianths which have four lobes, inflorescences with multicellular glandular hairs, a distinct C4 leaf anatomy type (called the Camphorosma type), and a chromosome count of 2n = 12.
Bromus racemosus, the smooth brome or bald brome, is a species of flowering plant in the family Poaceae. It is native to subarctic and temperate Eurasia, and widely introduced elsewhere, including North America, Iceland, the Southern Cone of South America, the Korean Peninsula, Australia, and New Zealand. It grows in alkaline meadows and in waste places.