Eragrostis ciliaris (L.) R.Br.
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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 - Cespitose annual herb; culms (3-)9-75 cm tall, erect, sometimes slightly geniculate below. Leaf ligules 0.2-0.5 mm long, ciliate; blades 1.8-12(-15) x 0.2-0.5 cm, flat. Panicle cylindrical, spikelike, 1.7-15 x 0.2-1.4 cm, contracted and condensed into glomerate lobes, often interrupted near base; branches ascending or appressed, 0.4-2.5 cm long, densely flowered. Spikelets 1.8-3.2 x 1-2 mm , 6-11-flowered, elliptical-ovate to ovatelanceolate, yellowish brown, sometimes purple-tinged; pedicels 0.1-0.9 mm long or spikelets sessile; glumes 0.7-1.6 mm long, ovate to lanceolate; lemmas 0.8-1.3 mm long, elliptic-ovate to lanceolate, the apex obtuse to acute; paleas 0.8-1.3 mm long, prominently ciliate-pectinate on the keels, the apex obtuse to acute; stamens 2, anthers 0.1-0.3 mm long, purplish. Caryopsis 0.4- 0.5 mm long, ovoid, reddish brown, without a dorsal groove.
Distribution and Ecology - Occasional weed of grassy, open areas. Cinnamon Bay (W368), Coral Bay (W795-a), Cruz Bay Gut (W792). Native to the paleotropics, now naturalized in the New World.