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

      1. Cenchrus tempisquensis (R.W.Pohl) Morrone

        This species is accepted, and its native range is Costa Rica.

    [GB]
    Habit
    Perennial; caespitose. Culms erect; 39-100 cm long. Culm-internodes glaucous; distally glabrous. Culm-nodes constricted; brown; glabrous. Lateral branches lacking. Leaf-sheaths wider than blade at the collar; keeled; glabrous on surface; outer margin glabrous. Ligule a ciliate membrane; 1-1.5 mm long. Leaf-blades flat, or conduplicate; 8-22 cm long; 4.5-7.5 mm wide; glaucous. Leaf-blade surface glabrous. Leaf-blade margins scabrous.
    Inflorescences
    Inflorescence a panicle. Panicle spiciform; linear; 7-10 cm long; 2-2.5 cm wide. Primary panicle branches accrescent to a central axis; with lateral stumps on axis. Panicle axis with rounded ribs; pubescent; bearing deciduous spikelet clusters. Spikelets subtended by an involucre. Fertile spikelets sessile; 1 in the cluster. Involucre composed of bristles; 10-14 mm long; base truncate; base 0.2-0.3 mm long. Involucral bristles deciduous with the fertile spikelets; numerous; with an outer whorl of thinner bristles; 20 in principal whorl; inner bristles shorter than outer; with one conspicuously longer bristle; 12-17 mm long; terete; flexible; glabrous.
    Spikelets
    Spikelets comprising 1 basal sterile florets; 1 fertile florets; without rhachilla extension. Spikelets ovate; dorsally compressed; acuminate; 5-6 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; 5-6 mm long; falling entire; deciduous with accessory branch structures.
    Glume
    Glumes shorter than spikelet; thinner than fertile lemma. Lower glume ovate; 1-1.6 mm long; 0.2-0.25 length of spikelet; membranous; without keels; 1 -veined. Lower glume lateral veins absent. Lower glume apex obtuse, or acute. Upper glume ovate; 5-5.5 mm long; 0.9 length of spikelet; membranous; without keels; 7 -veined. Upper glume apex acuminate.
    Florets
    Basal sterile florets barren; without significant palea. Lemma of lower sterile floret ovate; 5.7-5.9 mm long; 1 length of spikelet; membranous; 5 -veined; acuminate. Fertile lemma ovate; 5.2-5.7 mm long; chartaceous; without keel; 5 -veined. Lemma margins flat. Lemma apex acuminate. Palea 1 length of lemma; membranous.
    Flowers
    Lodicules absent. Anthers 3; 1.2-1.5 mm long; purple. Styles free to the base.
    Fruits
    Caryopsis with adherent pericarp; oblong; 2.1-2.2 mm long; light brown.
    Distribution
    South America: Mesoamericana.
    Reference
    Paniceae. Fl Costa Rica 1994.

    Images

    Distribution

    Native to:

    Costa Rica

    Synonyms

    Other Data

    Cenchrus tempisquensis (R.W.Pohl) Morrone appears in other Kew resources:

    Date Reference Identified As Barcode Type Status
    Pohl, R.W. [11725], Costa Rica Pennisetum tempisquense K000643103

    Bibliography

    First published in Ann. Bot. (Oxford) 106: 129 (2010)

    Accepted by

    • Govaerts, R. (2019). World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP Database) The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

    Literature

    Kew Backbone Distributions

    • Davidse, G. & al. (eds.) (1994). Flora Mesoamericana 6: 1-543. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, México, D.F.

    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