Lasiacis divaricata (L.) Hitchc.

  • Authority

    Acevedo-Rodríguez, Pedro & collaborators. 1996. Flora of St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 78: 1-581.

  • Family

    Poaceae

  • Scientific Name

    Lasiacis divaricata (L.) Hitchc.

  • Description

    Species Description - Perennial herb; flowering culms (5-)10-50(-70) dm tall, erect or decumbent at the base, moderately branched. Leaf sheaths glabrous; ligule 0.2-0.6 mm long; blades lanceolate to linear, flat, (3-)5-12(-16) x (0.3-)0.6-1.4(-2.0) cm, smooth, glabrous on the upper surface (except for some scabridity or puberulence along the lower part of the midrib). Inflorescence ovate; main axis 2- 12(-20) cm long; primary branches 2-8(-12) cm long. Spikelets solitary, obovoid, (3.5-)3.7-4.3(-4.5) x 2.1-2.6 mm; lower glume (1.2—)1.4—2(—2.5) mm long, 7-11-nerved; upper glume 3.5-4.5 mm long, 9-11-nerved; lemma of lower floret obovate, 9-13-nerved, muticous, the palea fully developed; lemma of upper floret obovate, indurate, smooth, usually brown, 3.4-4 mm long, muticous.

    Distribution and Ecology - Common in secondary vegetation. Bordeaux (A3795), Carolina (R1306), Kingshill (E3121). Also on St. Croix, St. Thomas, and Tortola; southern Florida, Mexico to South America and the West Indies

  • Discussion

    Panicum bambusoides Desv. ex Ham., Prodr. PL Ind. Occ. 10. 1825. Lasiacis harrisii Nash, Torrey a 13: 274. 1913.