Pharus lappulaceus Aubl.

  • 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

    Pharus lappulaceus Aubl.

  • Description

    Species Description - Cespitose, perennial herb; culms 25-50 cm tall, erect or occasionally decumbent and rooting at the nodes. Leaf ligules 1-2 mm long; pseudopetioles 8-60 mm long; blades 8-25 x 2-4 cm, narrowly lanceolate to elliptic. Inflorescence 10-20 cm long, sparsely flowered; branches borne singly at the nodes, the terminal bristly, 1-3 cm long, usually tipped with a staminate spikelet. Pistillate spikelets 7.5-11 mm long; glumes about half as long as the spikelet; lower glumes 4-6 mm long, 5-nerved; upper glumes 5-7 mm long, 3-nerved; lemma linear-oblong, straight, with an abrupt beak about 1 mm long, covered with minute hooked hairs. Staminate spikelet 2-3 mm long, purple; pedicels 4-11 mm long; lower glume absent or to 2 mm long; upper glume 1.5-3 mm long, 3-nerved. Caryopsis with persistent lemma bearing hooked hairs that disperse as a unit by adhering to fur and clothing.

  • Discussion

    Pharus glaber Kunth in H u m b . , Bonpl. & Kunth, Nov. Gen. Sp. 1: 196. 1816

  • Distribution

    A common herb of forest understory. Bethany (B223), Bordeaux (A3852). Found throughout the West Indies and Mexico to Argentina and Paraguay.

    Paraguay South America| Argentina South America| New Mexico United States of America North America| Saint John Virgin Islands of the United States South America| Argentina South America|