Thalia Lovegrass

Eragrostis chariis (Schult.) Hitchc., a name often misapplied to Eragrostis atrovirens (e.g. Sultan & Stewart, Grasses W. Pak. 2:234) is a synonym of Eragrostis nutans (Retz.) Steud., a quite different species.

An extremely common grass forming an appreciable part of the fodder available in waste places in the plains.

Eragrostis gangetica (Roxb.) Steud., Syn. Pl. Glum. 1:266. 1854, is similar to Eragrostis atrovirens but is an annual. The florets diverge at 45 degrees from the rhachilla and are 34 times as long as the internode. The lemmas, which are 1.2-1.7 mm long, do not overlap and the rhachilla is visible between them. There are only 2 stamens.

Widespread in India; it is reported from East Punjab and may occur in Pakistan.

Eragrostis nigra Nees ex Steud., Syn. Pl. Glum. 1:267. 1854, is also similar, having a loose open panicle, slate-grey to almost black florets and lemmas 1.5-2.2 mm long.

Reported from Chitral by Stamm & Wohrl but no authentic specimens have been seen.

Perennial. Culms loosely tufted, erect or geniculate at base, 15–100 cm tall, ca. 4 mm in diam., 4–8-noded. Leaf sheaths glabrous but pilose along summit; ligules a ciliolate membrane, 0.2–0.3 mm; leaf blades flat or involute, 4–17 × 0.2–0.4 cm, adaxial surface scabrous, near base pilose, abaxial surface glabrous. Panicle open, 5–20(–25) × 2–15 cm; branches one to several per node. Spikelets plumbeous and purplish, narrowly oblong, 5–15(–25) × 1.5–2.5 mm, 8–40-flowered, pedicels 0.5–5(–15) mm; rachilla persistent. Glumes 1-veined, 1–2.3 mm; lower glume ovate, 1–1.3 mm, apex acute, upper glume narrowly ovate, 1.3–2.3 mm, apex acuminate. Lemmas broad ovate, 1.8–2.2 mm, apex acute, lower lemma 2–2.2 mm, deciduous with palea. Palea loosely ciliate along keel, 1.6–1.8 mm. Stamens 3; anthers 0.7–0.9 mm. Caryopsis ca. 1 mm. Fl. and fr. summer and autumn. 2n = 40.

Tufted perennial without rhizomes; culms 30-100 cm high. Leaf-blades flat or rolled, mostly 15-30 cm long and 24 mm wide. Panicle ovate or oblong, 440 cm long, the spikelets loosely contracted about the obliquely ascending primary branches. Spikelets 6-50-flowered, narrowly oblong, 3-20 mm long, 1.5-2.5 mm wide, the opposite rows of florets not overlapping, leaving the rhachilla partly visible, typically grey-green but varying from yellowish to dark green and often tinged with purple, breaking up from the base, the rhachilla persistent; glumes subequal, ovate-elliptic, 0.8-1.7 mm long, acute; lemmas broadly ovate and acute to subacute when flattened, 1.4-2 mm long, minutely asperulous; palea falling soon after the lemma, the keels scaberulous; anthers 3, 0.5-1 mm long. Caryopsis ellip¬soid, 0.7 mm long.

Africa, Nepal, India, Thailand, Malaysia.

Distribution: Pakistan (Punjab & Kashmir); north Africa to Zambia and Angola; Mauritania to the Philippines.

200-1800 m

Fl. & Fr. Per. throughout most of the year.

Roadsides, river banks. Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hainan, Hunan, Sichuan, Yunnan [tropical and subtropical regions of Africa and Asia].

Poa atrovirens Desfontaines, Fl. Atlant. 1: 73. 1798; Era-grostis chariis (Schultes) Hitchcock; E. elegantula (Kunth) Nees ex Steudel (1854), not Nees (1851); E. fracta S. C. Sun & H. Q. Wang; E. longispicula S. C. Sun & H. Q. Wang; E. multinodis B. S. Sun & S. Wang; Poa chariis Schultes; P. elegantula Kunth.

atrovirens: dark green

Perennials, Terrestrial, not aquatic, Stems nodes swollen or brittle, Stems geniculate, decumbent, or lax, sometimes rooting at nodes, Stems caespitose, tufted, or clustered, Stems terete, round in cross section, or polygonal, Stem internodes solid or spongy, Stem internodes hollow, Stems with inflorescence less than 1 m tall, Stems, culms, or scapes exceeding basal leaves, Leaves mostly ba sal, below middle of stem, Leaves mostly cauline, Leaves sheathing at base, Leaf sheath mostly open, or loose, Leaf sheath smooth, glabrous, Leaf sheath hairy at summit, throat, or collar, Leaf sheath and blade differentiated, Leaf blades linear, Leaf blades 2-10 mm wide, Leaf blades mostly flat, Leaf blade margins folded, involute, or conduplicate, Leaf blades mostly glabrous, Leaf blades scabrous, roughened, or wrinkled, Ligule present, Ligule a fringe of hairs, Inflorescence terminal, Inflorescence an open panicle, openly paniculate, branches spreading, Inflorescence solitary, with 1 spike, fascicle, glomerule, head, or cluster per stem or culm, Inflorescence branches more than 10 to numerous, Flowers bisexual, Spikelets pedicellate, Spikelets laterally compressed, Spikelet less than 3 mm wide, Spikelets with 3-7 florets, Spikelets with 8-40 florets, Spikelets solitary at rachis nodes, Spikelets all alike and fertille, Spikelets bisexual, Spikelets disarticulating above the glumes, glumes persistent, Spikelets disarticulating beneath or between the florets, Rachilla or pedicel glabrous, Glumes present, empty bracts, Glumes 2 clearly present, Glumes equal or subequal, Glumes shorter than adjacent lemma, Glumes 1 nerved, Lemmas thin, chartaceous, hyaline, cartilaginous, or membranous, Lemma similar in texture to glumes, Lemma 3 nerved, Lemma glabrous, Lemma apex acute or acuminate, Lemma awnless, Lemma margins thin, lying flat, Lemma straight, Palea present, well developed, Palea membranous, hyaline, Palea shorter than lemma, Palea 2 nerved or 2 keeled, Palea keels winged, scabrous, or ciliate, Stamens 3, Styles 2-fid, deeply 2-branched, Stigmas 2, Fruit - caryopsis, Caryopsis ellipsoid, longitudinally grooved, hilum long-linear.

Eragrostis atrovirens is a species of grass. It is found in the tropical and subtropical parts of the world.