Eragrostis pectinacea (Michx.) Nees, Fl. Afr.

Cho, Yanghoon, Kim, Jonghwan, Han, Jeong Eun & Lee, Byoungyoon, 2016, Vascular plants of Poaceae (Ⅰ) new to Korea: Vulpia bromoides (L.) Gray, Agrostis capillaris L. and Eragrostis pectinacea (Michx.) Nees, Journal of Species Research 5 (1), pp. 14-21 : 18-20

3. Eragrostis pectinacea (Michx.) Nees, Fl. Afr. Austral. Ill.: 406. 1841.

Korean name: Deul-bi-no-ri (ṻffiƚffl)

Annual. Butt sheaths green, or purple. Culms erect to geniculate or decumbent, 10-30 cm long. Leaf-sheaths 3-6 cm long. hirsute at the apices, oral hairs bearded, to 2-2.5 mm long. Leaf-blades 5-10 cm long, 1-3 mm wide, abaxal surfaces glabrous and smooth, adaxal surface scaberulous; ligules fringe of hairs, 0.5-1 mm long. Panicle usually open, sometimes contracted, ovate, 5-10 cm long, 2-7 cm wide, branches simple and bearded in axils, primary branches 0.5-3 cm, solitary or paired at the lowest 2 nodes, flexible, appressed to widely divergent, sometimes capillary. Spikelets solitary, appressed, 4-7 mm long, 1-1.5 mm wide, pedicelled, comprising 5-10 fertile florets, linear-oblong to narrowly lanceolate, yellowish-brown or dark reddish-pupple, laterally compressed, rhachilla persistent, retaining paleas. Glumes deciduous, similar, sublate to ovate-lancelate, shorter than spikelet. Lower glume 0.5-1.5 mm long, 1/2 length of upper glume, membranous, 1-keeled, 1-veined, primary vein scaberulous, apex acute. Upper glume 1-2 mm long, as long as adjacent lemma, usually broader than the lower glumes, membranous, grayish-green proximally, reddish-purple distally, 1-keeled, 1-veined, primary vein scaberulous, apex acute. Lemma ovate, 1.5-2 mm long, membranous, keeled, 3-veined, midvein scaberulous, lateral veins distinct, close to margins, extending close to apex, apex acute. Palea 1.5 mm long, keels scaberulous, apex obtuse. Anthers 3, 0.2-0.5 mm, purplish. Caryopsis 0.5-0.9 mm with adherent pericarp, ellipsoid, slightly laterally compressed, without sulcus, 0.5-1 mm long, brownish. Flowering and Fruiting at August to September.

Habitats. Disturbed areas. near paved roads, rice field roads.

Distribution. NE Asia, SW Europe, America.

Specimens examined. Maechon-ri, Geumseo-myeon, Sancheong-gun , Gyeongsangnam-do, N 35°41′83.25″, E 127°87′20.63″, 16 Aug. 2014. J. H . Kim 141371 (2 sheets, KB) .

The Eragrostis Wolf is a large and widespread genus of the family Poaceae and includes 412 species (Kew Grassbase, 2006). In Korea, numbers of Eragrostis taxa were counted to five ( Lee, 2007) or seven ( Korea National Arboretum, 2011; Lee et al., 2011). The species in the Eragrostis are annual or perennial, rhizomes and stolons mostly absent. Most distinguishing characters are often glandular on the leaf sheaths and inflorescence, spikelets consisting of many-florets, and rhachilla mostly persistent at maturity. The Eragrostis is commonly used as a livestock fodder. E. pectinacea , which is now added to the list of Korean vascular plants, is native to the Americas from southern Canada to Argentina ( Peterson, 2003). This species is growing widely in open areas with diverse habitats and elevations, even in a disturbed grassland and roadsides. The forms of external morphology are similar to those of E. multicaulis Steud. The panicle of E. pectinacea is contracted, or somewhat open but contracted at maturity. However, panicles of E. multicaulis are always open. The color of inflorescence of this species is tinged purple while that of E. multicaulis is grayish green.