Triplasis purpurea

Last updated

Triplasis purpurea
Triplasis purpurea HC-1950.png
Triplasis purpurea illustration
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Clade: Commelinids
Order: Poales
Family: Poaceae
Genus: Triplasis
Species:
T. purpurea
Binomial name
Triplasis purpurea

Triplasis purpurea, the purple sand-grass, is a species of grass in the family Poaceae native to North America. The specific epithet purpurea is Latin for "purple", referencing the purple spikelets of the grass.

Contents

Description

Triplasis purpurea up grows to 13 dm (51 in) in height. Its wiry, tufted culms are either widely spreading or ascending, with pubescent nodes. The leaf sheathes and small, rigid leaves of the grass are scabrous. The ligule is a ring of short hairs. Its terminal panicles are 3–7 cm (1.2–2.8 in) long, with rigid and divergent branches. The rose-purple spikelets of the grass are 5–8 mm (0.20–0.31 in) long with two to five flowers and have rather short pedicels. The flowering scales are oblong and twice lobed at their apex, with glabrous lower scales. The joints of the rachilla are as half as long as the flowering scales. The awn of the lemma barely exceeds its truncate lobes. [1] [2]

The grass flowers from August to October. [1]

Distribution and habitat

Triplasis purpurea is endemic to North America, mostly throughout along eastern coast but also in the midwest.

The grass prefers the sandy dunes and beaches of the Atlantic coast, Gulf coast, and the Great Lakes, though it can also occur in disturbed areas inland such as roadsides. [3]

Related Research Articles

Timothy (grass) Species of grass

Timothy is an abundant perennial grass native to most of Europe except for the Mediterranean region. It is also known as timothy-grass, meadow cat's-tail or common cat's tail. It is a member of the genus Phleum, consisting of about 15 species of annual and perennial grasses.

<i>Paspalum notatum</i> Species of plant

Paspalum notatum, known commonly as bahiagrass, common bahia, and Pensacola bahia, is a tropical to subtropical perennial grass. It is known for its prominent V-shaped inflorescence consisting of two spike-like racemes containing multiple tiny spikelets, each about 2.8–3.5 millimetres (0.11–0.14 in) long.

<i>Molinia caerulea</i> Species of grass

Molinia caerulea, known by the common name purple moor-grass, is a species of grass that is native to Europe, west Asia, and north Africa. It grows in locations from the lowlands up to 2,300 m (7,546 ft) in the Alps. Like most grasses, it grows best in acid soils, ideally pH values of between 3.5 and 5, however, it can continue to live under more extreme conditions, sometimes to as low as 2. It is common on moist heathland, bogs and moorland throughout Britain and Ireland. Introduced populations exist in northeastern and northwestern North America.

<i>Bromus secalinus</i> Species of grass

Bromus secalinus is a species of bromegrass known as rye brome. The specific epithet secalinus is Latin, meaning "rye-like". The fruits are hard, rounded glumes that appear superficially similar to the rye grain, which gives the brome its common and scientific name. The grass has a diploid number of 28.

<i>Bromus madritensis</i> Species of grass

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.

<i>Bromus ciliatus</i> Species of grass

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.

<i>Triplasis</i> Genus of flowering plants

Triplasis is a genus of North American plants in the grass family. Sandgrass is a common name for plants in this genus. The genus name Triplasis is Greek, meaning "threefold", referring to the triple nerved lemmas.

<i>Festuca vivipara</i> Species of grass

Festuca vivipara, the viviparous sheep's-fescue, is a species of grass native to northern Europe, northern Asia, and subarctic North America. The specific epithet vivipara is Latin, referring to the florets' alteration to leafy tufts. The plant can have a diploid number of 28, 49, 56, or 63, though numbers of 21, 35, and 42 have also been reported.

<i>Dalea purpurea</i> Species of legume

Dalea purpurea is a species of flowering plant in the legume family known as purple prairie clover. Native to central north America, purple prairie clover is a relatively common member of the Great Plains and prairie ecosystems. It blooms in the summer with dense spikes of bright purple flowers that attract many species of insects.

<i>Muhlenbergia capillaris</i> Species of plant

Muhlenbergia capillaris, commonly known as the hairawn muhly, is a perennial sedge-like plant that grows to be about 30–90 cm (0.98–2.95 ft) tall and 60–90 cm (2.0–3.0 ft) wide. The plant includes a double layer; green, leaf-like structures surround the understory, and purple-pink flowers outgrow them from the bottom up. The plant is a warm-season grass, meaning that leaves begin growth in the summer. During the summer, the leaves stay green, but they morph during the fall to produce a more copper color. The seasonal changes also include the flowers, as they grow out during the fall and stay healthy till the end of autumn. The muhly grows along the border of roads and on plain prairies. The grass clumps into herds, causing bush-like establishments in the area the hairawn muhly inhabits. The flowers are very feathery and add a cloudlike appearance to the top of the grass. It is native to eastern North America and can be used for a multitude of purposes, including ornamental gardening and farming. It was voted 2012 plant of the year by the Garden Club of America.

<i>Carex davisii</i> Species of grass-like plant

Carex davisii, known as Davis' sedge or awned graceful sedge, is a species of Carex native to North America. It is listed as an endangered, threatened, or species of concern across much of edge of its range. It was named in the 1820s by Lewis David de Schweinitz and John Torrey in honor of Emerson Davis (1798–1866), a Massachusetts educator and "enthusiastic student of the genus" Carex.

<i>Bromus nottowayanus</i> Species of grass

Bromus nottowayanus, the Nottoway Valley brome or satin brome, is a brome grass native to North America. The specific epithet nottowayanus refers to the Nottoway Valley. The grass has a diploid number of 14.

<i>Bromus japonicus</i> Species of grass

Bromus japonicus, the Japanese brome, is an annual brome grass native to Eurasia. The grass has a diploid number of 14.

<i>Festuca brachyphylla</i> Species of grass

Festuca brachyphylla, commonly known as alpine fescue or short-leaved fescue, is a grass native to Eurasia, North America, and the Arctic. The grass is used for erosion control and revegetation. The specific epithet brachyphylla means "short-leaved". The grass has a diploid number of 28, 42, or 44.

<i>Bromus rigidus</i> Species of grass

Bromus rigidus, the ripgut brome, is a grass native to Eurasia and naturalized in North America. The specific epithet rigidus means rigid or stiff.

<i>Puccinellia fasciculata</i> Species of plant

Puccinellia fasciculata, or Borrer's saltmarsh grass, is an annual grass native to coasts of Europe and introduced to the northern east coast of North America. Its diploid number is 28.

Puccinellia macra is a perennial grass which grows on the coasts of south-eastern Canada. Its specific epithet "macra" means large, referring to its tall stature.

Puccinellia lucida is a perennial grass which grows in south-eastern Canada and occasionally elsewhere in the United States. Its specific epithet lucida means "shining", referring to the plant's lustrous glumes.

Poa subcaerulea is a perennial grass occurring in North America and Europe. Its specific epithet "subcaerulea" means "bluish". Its diploid number varies between 54 and 109.

<i>Eragrostis mexicana</i> Species of grass

Eragrostis mexicana, the Mexican lovegrass, is an annual grass found from North America down to Argentina. Its specific epithet "mexicana" means "from Mexico". Its diploid number is 60.

References

  1. 1 2 Merrit Lyndon Fernald (1970). R. C. Rollins (ed.). Gray's Manual of Botany (Eighth (Centennial) - Illustrated ed.). D. Van Nostrand Company. p. 130. ISBN   0-442-22250-5.
  2. Nathaniel Lord Britton, Addison Brown (1913). An Illustrated Flora of the Northern United States, Canada and the British Possessions. Vol. 1 (2 ed.). Charles Scribner's Sons. p. 235.
  3. "Triplasis purpurea". NatureServe. 2018. Retrieved 3 August 2018.