Western Wetland Flora
Field Office Guide to Plant Species
Leptochloa fascicularis (Lam.) Gray
- Family: Grass (Gramineae)
- Flowering: July-September
- Field Marks: The genus Leptochloa has sessile spikelets that are borne in two rows on two sides of the main axis (rachis). The spikelets of the bearded sprangle-top have 5-12 flowers with lemmas 1/6-1/3 inch long.
- Habitat: Around lakes and ponds, along streams, in marshes, sometimes in shallow standing water. This species may be found in sandy or alkaline habitats.
- Habit: Tufted annual grass with fibrous roots.
- Stems: Upright, branched, hollow, up to 2 1/2 feet tall, smooth.
- Leaves: Elongated, narrow, rolled up into a hollow tube or sometimes flat, up to 1/3 inch wide, smooth or rough to the touch, the uppermost sometimes surpassing the inflorescence.
- Flowers: Borne in spikelets, the sessile spikelets arranged in two rows on two sides of the main axis, each spikelet with 5-12 flowers; lemmas 1/6-1/3 inch long, hairy, awned at the tip.
- Sepals: 0.
- Petals: 0.
- Stamens: 3.
- Pistils: Ovary superior.
- Grains: Small, ovoid, smooth.
- Notes: The grains are eaten by waterfowl.
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