Oplismenus setarius

Oplismenus setarius
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Division:	Magnoliophyta - Flowering plants
Class:	Liliopsida – Monocotyledons
Order:	Cyperales
Family:	Poaceae ⁄ Gramineae
Genus:	Oplismenus
Species:	O. setarius
Binomial name
Oplismenus setarius (L.) P. Beauv.
Natural range of Oplismenus setarius from USDA NRCS Plants Database.

Common name: basketgrass

Taxonomic notes

Synonyms: Oplismenus hirtellus (Linnaeus) Palisot de Beauvois ssp. setarius (Lamarck) Mez ex Ekman; O. hirtellus (Linnaeus) Palisot de Beauvois

Description

Oplismenus setarius is a perennial grass.

"Creeping perennial; upright culms 1.5-3.5 dm tall, geniculate, nodes appressed pubescent or glabrous, internodes striate, puberulent, pubescent, or glabrous. Leaves cauline; blades ovate to lanceolate, 2-6 cm long, 2-20 mm wide, upper surface densely nerved centrally, pubescent, lower surface occasionally conspicuously septate, puberulent, margins ciliate, conspicuously shorter than internodes; ligules, membranous, ciliate, 0.51-.5 mm long; collars pubescent. Panicle narrow, 2-12 cm long, 1.5-2 cm broad; strongly winged-angled, scaberulous; lateral branches 1-10, scaberulous, less than 1cm long with 1-10 spikelets, occasionally pubescent at base of branches and between spikelets. Spikelets second, ovoid to ellipsoid, 2.5-3 mm long excluding wns; pedicels pubescent, less than 0.5 mm long. Frist glume strongly scaberulous keeled, lateral nerved obscure, margins obtuse, 0.2-0.6 mm long, 2nd glume and sterile lemma 3-nerved, pubescent or glabrous, scarious, acute, 2.5-3 mm long, sterile palea absent or rudimentary; fertile lemma and palea nerveless, apiculate to mucronate, 2.5-3 mm long. Grain yellowish, oblong to ellipsoid, 2-2.2 mm long." - Radford et al 1964

Ecology

Habitat

O. setarius occurs in moist or wet loamy soil, from loamy humus to sandy loam (FSU Herbarium). It also seems to prefer partially to deeply shaded light conditions (FSU Herbarium). It can be found in mesic woodlands, live oak and mixed hardwood hammocks, pine flatwoods, and situations near water, like woodland floodplains and bordering swamps or creeks (FSU Herbarium). It also occurs in disturbed habitat, including trailsides, roadsides, common use areas, and railways (FSU Herbarium).

Phenology

Flowering and fruiting has been observed in July, August, September, October, and December (FSU Herbarium).

References and notes

Florida State University Robert K. Godfrey Herbarium database. URL: http://herbarium.bio.fsu.edu. Last accessed: June 2014. Collectors: Ed Keppner, Lisa Keppner, Cecil R Slaughter, Loran C. Anderson, Cynthia A. Aulbach-Smith, A. Harris, J. Edmisten, R. A. Norris, R. Komarek, Robert K. Godfrey, K. Craddock Burks, Sidney McDaniel, Camm Swift, Gary R. Knight, R. Kral, Richard S. Mitchell, R. A. Pursell, _Morril, D. B. Ward, E. Pritchard, G. P. Dewolf, James R. Burkhalter, George Avery, G. Crosby, John Beckner, Sandy Thompson, Carmen Rossy-Valderama, R. L. Lazor, and E. L. Tyson. States and Counties: Florida: Alachua, Bay, Calhoun, Citrus, Dade, Escambia, Flagler, Franklin, Gadsden, Jackson, Jefferson, Leon, Liberty, Marion, Monroe, Osceola, Santa Rosa, St Lucie, Sumter, Volusia, Wakulla, and Washington. Georgia: Grady. South Carolina: Beaufort. Other Countries: Costa Rica, Panama, and Puerto Rico.

Radford, Albert E., Harry E. Ahles, and C. Ritchie Bell. Manual of the Vascular Flora of the Carolinas. 1964, 1968. The University of North Carolina Press. 131. Print.