Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Monocots: Commelinids: Poales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Erianthus alopecuroides
FAMILY
Poaceae
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
Learn more about Erianthus from the Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
Awn twisting is judged from dry material, either herbarium specimens, mature (and dry) material in the field. With material that is not fully dry, a good life hack is to leave all or part of an inflorescence on the dashboard of a car to dry, per Weakley's Flora (2023).
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Saccharum alopecuroides
FAMILY
Poaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 25 (2003)
Saccharum alopecuroides
SYNONYMOUS WITH (ORTHOGRAPHIC VARIANT) Floristic Synthesis of North America (Kartesz, 1999)
Saccharum alopecuroidum
SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 029-85-001:
Erianthus alopecuroides FAMILY Poaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Grasses of the US (Hitchcock & Chase, 1950)
Erianthus alopecuroides
SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Erianthus divaricatus
COMMON NAME:
Silver Plumegrass
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
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USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Hitchcock, A.S. (rev. A. Chase). 1950 pnd_eral2_001_lvd
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913 pnd_erdi11_001_lvd
)
JK Marlow jkm0401d_08
January Greenville County SC
Roadside
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JK Marlow jkm120913_799
September Greenville County SC
Leaves mostly on lower stem, 2-3cm wide, to 75cm long, whie midvein above, per Forest Plants of the Southeast and Their Wildlife Uses (Miller & Miller, 2005).
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JK Marlow jkm230922_5570
September Greenville County SC
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JK Marlow jkm230922_5572
September Greenville County SC
Nodes usually densely hairy, internodes short-haired or hairless, per Forest Plants of the Southeast and Their Wildlife Uses (Miller & Miller, 2005).
)
JK Marlow jkm230922_5573
September Greenville County SC
Leaf blade pilose on upper surface toward the base, per Manual of the Grasses of the United States (Hitchcock & Chase, 1950).
)
JK Marlow s080914_c
September Greenville County SC
Panicle 20-30cm long, branches ascending or spreading, per Forest Plants of the Southeast and Their Wildlife Uses (Miller & Miller, 2005).
)
JK Marlow s080914_d
September Greenville County SC
Flowers consist mostly of a few stamens and a pistil with 2 fuzzy stigmas, per Wildflowers of the Eastern United States (Duncan & Duncan, 1999).
)
JK Marlow jkm091107_053
November Edgefield County SC
Sumter National Forest: Edgefield Ranger District
Inflorescence of many racemes in a dense, silvery to tawny, plume, per Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005).
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JK Marlow jkm091107_056
November Edgefield County SC
Sumter National Forest: Edgefield Ranger District
Awn twisted, bristle hairs from spikelet base longer than spikelet, per Forest Plants of the Southeast and Their Wildlife Uses (Miller & Miller, 2005).
)
JK Marlow s071101_e2
November Greenville County SC
Roadside
Callus beard exceeds spikelet. Awn spirally twisted, flattened basally, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
COMPARE
fruit of Plumegrass species
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Erianthus alopecuroides
FAMILY
Poaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Saccharum alopecuroides
FAMILY
Poaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 25
Saccharum alopecuroides
SYNONYMOUS WITH (ORTHOGRAPHIC VARIANT)
Floristic Synthesis of North America (Kartesz, 1999)
Saccharum alopecuroidum
SYNONYMOUS WITH
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 029-85-001:
Erianthus alopecuroides
FAMILY
Poaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Manual of the Grasses of the US (Hitchcock & Chase, 1950)
Erianthus alopecuroides
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Erianthus divaricatus
2042
Grass, Sedge, or Rush
Perennial
Habitat: Dry to moist fields, roadsides, woodlands, and woodland borders, per Weakley's Flora
Native to the Carolinas & Georgia
Common in Piedmont (rare in NC Mountains) (uncommon elsewhere in GA-NC-SC)
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.
LEAVES:
Simple
Mostly alternate, 2-ranked
FLOWER:
Summer/Fall
Panicle whitish to tawny
FRUIT:
Summer/Fall
Grain reddish
Grain
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- Forest Plants of the Southeast and Their Wildlife Uses (Miller & Miller, 2005) p248
- Gardening with the Native Plants of Tennessee (Hunter, 2002) p212
- Manual of the Grasses of the United States (Hitchcock & Chase, 1950) p744
- Wildflowers of the Eastern United States (Duncan & Duncan, 1999) p140
- Field Guide to the Wildflowers of Georgia (Chafin, 2016) p414
- Wildflowers of Tennessee (Carman, 2005) p348
- Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005) p400
- Wildflowers of the Sandhills Region (Sorrie, 2011) p295
If a search such as "Carex leptalea var. leptalea" doesn't deliver the results you want, try "Carex leptalea".
Or, to minimize chances of a misspelling, try just "Carex le".
Less is more: If "pencil flower" doesn't deliver the results you want, try "pencil".