• You are here:
• Full Key
• Grass-like plants
• True grasses
• Sporobolus cryptandrus

Sporobolus cryptandrus — sand dropseed

Facts

Sand dropseed, as the name suggests, is found on sandy open soils such as roadsides railroads and fields. Although this species is native to New England, some records are known to be introduced, for example in rail yards in Vermont. The Navajo, Hopi and Apache, among others, made use of the seeds of this plant for cooking, grinding the seeds into flour to make breads or mush.

Habitat

Anthropogenic (man-made or disturbed habitats), cliffs, balds, or ledges, grassland, meadows and fields, ridges or ledges, woodlands

Characteristics

• Flowers

  Anther length

  0.5–1 mm

  Anther number

  2–3

  Awn on glume

  the glume has no awn

  Floret types within spikelet

  all the florets within a spikelet are similar

  Glume relative length

  one or both glumes are as long or longer than all of the florets

  Glume veins

  • 0
  • 1

  Inflorescence arrangement

  the spikelets are uniform

  Inflorescence axis orientation

  the inflorescence axis is straight

  Inflorescence branches

  • the flowers are attached to branches rather than to the main axis of the inflorescence
  • there are no branch points between the base of the inflorescence axis and the flowers, or they are not obvious

  Inflorescence crowding

  the panicle is somewhat to very spread out, with clearly-evident branches

  Inflorescence length

  150–400 mm

  Inflorescence length to width ratio

  2.9–7.5

  Inflorescence type (general)

  • the inflorescence is a spike, or is spike-like, lacking obvious branches
  • 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

  20–140 mm

  Lemma awn base

  NA

  Lemma awn length

  0 mm

  Lemma awn number

  the lemma has no awn

  Lemma cross-section

  the lemma is flat or rounded if you cut across the midpoint

  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

  1

  One or more florets

  there is one floret per spikelet

  Palea relative length

  palea is one half to fully as long as lemma

  Spikelet axis tip

  there is no extension of the spikelet axis beyond the tip of the spikelet

  Spikelet length

  1.5–2.7 mm

  Spikelet position

  • the spikelets emerge from both the upper and lower halves of the inflorescence branches
  • the spikelets emerge mainly from the upper halves of the inflorescence branches

  Spikelets spiny

  the spikelets do not appear spiny

  Upper glume shape

  the upper glume is widest at or below the middle

• Growth form

  Lifespan

  the plant lives more than two years

• Leaves

  Leaf auricles

  the leaves do not have auricles

  Leaf blade width

  2–6 mm

  Leaf ligule length

  0.5–1 mm

  Leaf ligule type

  the leaf ligule is in the form of fine hairs

  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 no hairs on the surface of the leaf sheath

• Place

  Habitat

  terrestrial

  New England state

  • Connecticut
  • Maine
  • Massachusetts
  • New Hampshire
  • Vermont

  Specific habitat

  • cliffs, balds, or ledges
  • grasslands
  • man-made or disturbed habitats
  • meadows or fields
  • ridges or ledges
  • woodlands

• Stem, shoot, branch

  Stem spacing

  the stems grow close together in compact clusters or tufts

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