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  1. Family: Poaceae Barnhart
    1. Genus: Cenchrus L.

      1. Cenchrus tribuloides L.

        This species is accepted, and its native range is E. U.S.A., Caribbean, E. & S. Brazil.

    [GB]
    Habit
    Annual. Culms 10-70 cm long. Leaf-sheaths outer margin hairy. Leaf-sheath oral hairs ciliate. Ligule a fringe of hairs; 1-2.1 mm long. Leaf-blades 2-14 cm long; 3-14 mm wide. Leaf-blade surface glabrous. Leaf-blade apex attenuate.
    Inflorescences
    Inflorescence a panicle. Panicle spiciform; linear; dense, or loose (internodes 3-10mm); 2-8.2 cm long; 1.5-3 cm wide. Primary panicle branches accrescent to a central axis; with sessile scars on axis. Panicle axis angular; smooth, or scaberulous; bearing deciduous spikelet clusters. Spikelets subtended by an involucre. Fertile spikelets sessile; 1 in the cluster. Involucre composed of bristles; connate into a cup below; ovate; 9-16 mm long; base obconical; base glabrous. Involucral bristles deciduous with the fertile spikelets; numerous; emerging irregularly from body of a burr; 15-44 in principal whorl; 4-8 mm long; flattened; rigid; retrorsely scaberulous; ciliate; spinose.
    Spikelets
    Spikelets comprising 1 basal sterile florets; 1 fertile florets; without rhachilla extension. Spikelets ovate; dorsally compressed; acuminate; 6-8.8 mm long; falling entire; deciduous with accessory branch structures.
    Fertile
    Spikelets comprising 1 basal sterile florets; 1 fertile florets; without rhachilla extension. Spikelets ovate; dorsally compressed; acuminate; 6-8.8 mm long; falling entire; deciduous with accessory branch structures.
    Glume
    Glumes shorter than spikelet; thinner than fertile lemma. Lower glume ovate; 1-4 mm long; 0.2-0.5 length of spikelet; membranous; without keels; 1 -veined. Lower glume lateral veins absent. Lower glume apex acute. Upper glume ovate; 4.9-6.8 mm long; 0.75 length of spikelet; membranous; without keels; 3-7 -veined. Upper glume apex acute.
    Florets
    Basal sterile florets barren; with palea. Lemma of lower sterile floret ovate; 5.5-7.5 mm long; 0.8-0.9 length of spikelet; membranous; 3-7 -veined; acute. Fertile lemma ovate; 6-8.7 mm long; coriaceous; much thinner on margins; without keel; 3 -veined. Lemma margins flat. Lemma apex obtuse. Palea coriaceous.
    Flowers
    Anthers 0.8-2.8 mm long.
    Fruits
    Caryopsis with adherent pericarp.
    Distribution
    Pacific: southwestern and north-central. North America: northeast USA and southeast . South America: Caribbean and Brazil.
    Reference
    Paniceae. De Lisle.

    Images

    Distribution

    Native to:

    Alabama, Bahamas, Bermuda, Brazil Northeast, Brazil South, Brazil Southeast, Cayman Is., Cuba, Delaware, Dominican Republic, Florida, Georgia, Haiti, Jamaica, Leeward Is., Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Masachusettes, Mississippi, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, Southwest Caribbean, Turks-Caicos Is., Vermont, Virginia

    Introduced into:

    Greece, Hawaii, Tonga

    Synonyms

    Other Data

    Cenchrus tribuloides L. appears in other Kew resources:

    Date Reference Identified As Barcode Type Status
    Clayton, W.D. [4762], Brazil K001106080
    Kummrow, R. [300], Brazil K001106079
    Klein, R.M. [10240], Brazil K001106082
    Burchell [1475], Brazil K001106081
    Burchell [1475], Brazil K001106083

    Bibliography

    First published in Sp. Pl.: 1050 (1753)

    Accepted by

    • Vladimirov, V. & Kit Tan (2016). New floristic records in the Balkans: 31 Phytologia Balcanica 22: 429-467.
    • Gutiérrez, H.F. & Morrone, O. (2012). Novedades nomenclaturales en Cenchrus s.l. (Poaceae: Panicoideae: Paniceae) Boletín de la Sociedad Argentina de Botánica 47: 263-269.
    • Acevedo-Rodríguez, P. & Strong, M.T. (2012). Catalogue of seed plants of the West Indies Smithsonian Contributions to Botany 98: 1-1192.
    • Clayton, W.D. & Snow, N. (2010). A key to Pacific Grasses: 1-107. Kew Publishing, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
    • Zuloaga, F.O., Morrone, O. , Belgrano, M.J., Marticorena, C. & Marchesi, E. (eds.) (2008). Catálogo de las Plantas Vasculares del Cono Sur Monographs in Systematic Botany from the Missouri Botanical Garden 107: 1-3348.
    • Nelson Sutherland, C.H. (2008). Catálogo de las plantes vasculares de Honduras. Espermatofitas: 1-1576. SERNA/Guaymuras, Tegucigalpa, Honduras.
    • Clayton, W.D., Harman, K.T. & Williamson, H. (2006). World Grass Species - Synonymy database The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
    • Flora of North America Editorial Committee (2003). Flora of North America North of Mexico 25: 1-781. Oxford University Press, New York, Oxford.
    • Cirilo, N. & Proctor, G.R. (1994). Vascular plants of the Caribbean Swan islands of Honduras Brenesia 41-42: 73-80.

    Literature

    Kew Backbone Distributions

    • Vladimirov, V. & Kit Tan (2016). New floristic records in the Balkans: 31 Phytologia Balcanica 22: 429-467.
    • Forzza, R.C. & al. (2013). Lista de Espécies da Flora do Brasil http://floradobrasil.jbrj.gov.br/2010/.
    • Acevedo-Rodríguez, P. & Strong, M.T. (2012). Catalogue of seed plants of the West Indies Smithsonian Contributions to Botany 98: 1-1192.
    • Clayton, W.D. & Snow, N. (2010). A key to Pacific Grasses: 1-107. Kew Publishing, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
    • Flora of North America Editorial Committee (2003). Flora of North America North of Mexico 25: 1-781. Oxford University Press, New York, Oxford.
    • Cirilo, N. & Proctor, G.R. (1994). Vascular plants of the Caribbean Swan islands of Honduras Brenesia 41-42: 73-80.
    • Correll, D.S. & Correll, H.B. (1982). Flora of the Bahama Archipelago: 1-1692. J.Cramer, Vaduz.

    Sources

    GrassBase - The Online World Grass Flora
    http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

    Herbarium Catalogue Specimens
    'The Herbarium Catalogue, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Published on the Internet http://www.kew.org/herbcat [accessed on Day Month Year]'. Please enter the date on which you consulted the system.
    Digital Image © Board of Trustees, RBG Kew http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

    Kew Backbone Distributions
    The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Selected Plant Families 2020. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/
    © Copyright 2017 World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

    Kew Names and Taxonomic Backbone
    The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Selected Plant Families 2020. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/
    © Copyright 2017 International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0