Axonopus compressus (Sw.) P.Beauv.
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Authority
Acevedo-Rodríguez, Pedro & collaborators. 1996. Flora of St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 78: 1-581.
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Family
Poaceae
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Scientific Name
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Description
Species Description - Perennial, stoloniferous herb; flowering culms 1-6 d m tall, erect from the base, unbranched. Leaf sheaths glabrous; ligule 0.4-0.6 mm long; blades linear to lanceolate, flat or conduplicate, (1—)3—8(—25) x 0.4-1 cm, glabrous, smooth on the upper surface. Inflorescence ovate; main axis present or absent, to 2 cm long; primary branches 3-8 cm long. Spikelets solitary, ovate to elliptic, 2.1-2.8 x 0.6-0.9 mm; upper glume 2.1-2.8 mm long, 4-5-nerved; lower floret, lemma lanceolate to ovate, 4-nerved, muticous; palea absent; in upper floret, lemma oblong to ovate, membranous, muricate, white, 1.7-2.4 mm long, muticous.
Distribution and Ecology - An occasional roadside weed. Bethany to Rosenberg (B282), Bordeaux (A2615), Lameshur (W311). Also on St. Croix and St. Thomas; a tropical and subtropical weed, .commonly used as a lawn grass.