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• Grass-like plants
• True grasses
• Brachyelytrum erectum

Brachyelytrum erectum — southern long-awned wood grass

Facts

Southern long-awned wood grass is a native grass of moist forests and forest openings. It is more abundant in southern New England than in the north, where it is confined to areas of high pH bedrock.

Habitat

Forests

Characteristics

• Flowers

  Anther length

  3.3–6 mm

  Anther number

  3

  Awn on glume

  • the glume has an awn
  • the glume has no awn

  Bristles below spikelets

  no

  Floret lower bract texture

  the lemma is thin and flexible

  Floret number

  1

  Floret types within spikelet

  all the florets within a spikelet are similar

  Glume awn length

  At least 0 mm

  Glume keel

  NA

  Glume relative length

  neither glume is quite as long as all of the florets

  Glume shape

  the glume is flat or curved in cross-section

  Glume veins

  1

  Glumes per spikelet

  • 1
  • 2

  Inflorescence arrangement

  the spikelets are uniform

  Inflorescence axis orientation

  • the inflorescence axis is arched or curved outward
  • the inflorescence axis is straight

  Inflorescence branch roughness

  the inflorescence branches are somewhat to very rough

  Inflorescence branches

  the flowers are attached to branches rather than to the main axis of the inflorescence

  Inflorescence crowding

  the panicle is somewhat to very congested (crowded), and the branches may not be clearly seen without close inspection

  Inflorescence length

  55–185 mm

  Inflorescence length to width ratio

  5.5–9.3

  Inflorescence type (general)

  the spikelets are borne on stalks or on branches

  Inflorescence type (specific)

  the inflorescence is branched, and the branches do NOT both grow from the same side of the plant AND look like spikes

  Inflorescence width

  10–20 mm

  Inforescence position

  the spikelets are mainly carried at the end of the stem

  Lemma awn coiled

  the lemma awn is straight or twisted, but not coiled one half turn

  Lemma keel hairs

  • NA
  • the keel of the lemma is rough, or has fine hairs

  Lemma surface

  the surface of the lemma is relatively smooth (not counting any longitudinal veins or hairs)

  Lemma tip

  the lemma tip is a simple point, with or without an awn (long narrow extension ending in a point)

  Lemma vein number

  5

  Lower glume length

  0–11 mm

  Lower glume relative length

  the lower glume is one third or less as long as the upper glume

  One or more florets

  there is one floret per spikelet

  Palea length

  7–12 mm

  Palea relative length

  palea is one half to fully as long as lemma

  Reproductive system

  all the flowers on the plant have both carpels and stamens (synoecious)

  Spikelet axis tip

  there is an extension of the spikelet axis beyond the tip of the spikelet

  Spikelet disintegration

  the spikelet breaks off above the glumes, so that after the florets fall off, the glumes remain

  Spikelet length

  6–10 mm

  Spikelet number per node

  0

  Spikelet pedicel

  the spikelets have pedicels

  Spikelet pedicel length

  0.5–8 mm

  Spikelet shape

  the spikelets are lanceolate (lance-shaped, widest below the middle and tapering narrowly to the ends) in profile

  Spikelet width

  0.8–1.7 mm

  Spikelets per panicle branch

  1–5

  Spikelets spiny

  the spikelets do not appear spiny

  Tip of glume

  the tip of the glume is not divided (though it may have an awn on it)

  Upper glume length

  0.2–7 mm

  Upper glume relative length

  the upper glume is more than one half as long as the lowest lemma

  Upper glume shape

  the upper glume is widest at or below the middle

• Fruits or seeds

  Seed length

  5.5–7.5 mm

• Growth form

  Horizontal rooting stem

  no

  Lifespan

  the plant lives more than two years

  Rhizomes

  yes

  Roots

  the plant has rhizomes (horizontal underground stem with roots growing from it)

• Leaves

  Basal leaves

  the plant has few or no leaves coming from the base of the flowering stem

  Leaf auricles

  the leaves do not have auricles

  Leaf basal lobe hairy

  NA

  Leaf blade cross-section

  the leaf blade is more or less flat in cross-section, or slightly folded or rolled inwards

  Leaf blade hairs

  the leaf blade is hairy

  Leaf blade length

  8.8–17.5 cm

  Leaf blade texture

  the leaf blade is rough and sandpapery

  Leaf blade width

  9–20 mm

  Leaf ligule length

  2–3.5 mm

  Leaf ligule type

  the leaf ligule is in the form of a membrane

  Leaf margin glands

  there are no glands along the edges of the leaf blade

  Leaf sheath closed around stem

  the margins of the leaf sheath are overlapping and not fused together except in the basal half (or less)

  Leaf sheath hairs

  there are hairs on the surface of the leaf sheath

• Place

  Habitat

  terrestrial

  New England state

  • Connecticut
  • Massachusetts
  • New Hampshire
  • Rhode Island
  • Vermont

  Specific habitat

  forests

• Stem, shoot, branch

  Hairs at nodes

  the stem nodes have hairs that stand out at a shallow angle, or they curve downwards

  Plant height

  34–102 cm

  Stem hairs

  the stem has hairs on it

  Stem orientation

  the stems are upright

  Stem spacing

  the stems grow singly or a few together (they may form diffuse colonies)

  Stem thickness at base

  0.7–1.4 mm

Wetland status

Usually occurs in non-wetlands, but occasionally in wetlands. (Wetland indicator code: FACU)

New England distribution and conservation status

From the dichotomous key of Flora Novae Angliae