Plants annual; tufted, without innovations. Culms (5)10-60 cm, erect
or decumbent, much-branched near the base, with a ring of glandular tissue below
the nodes, rings often shiny or yellowish. Sheaths hairy at the apices,
hairs to 4 mm; ligules 0.2-0.5 mm, ciliate; blades 1.5-10 cm long,
1-3(5) mm wide, flat, abaxial surfaces glabrous, adaxial surfaces glabrous, sometimes
scabridulous, occasionally with white hairs to 3 mm, margins without crateriform
glands. Panicles 4-20 cm long, 2.2-8(10) cm wide, ovate, open to contracted,
rachises with shiny or yellowish glandular spots or rings below the nodes; primary
branches 0.5-6 cm, diverging 20-100° from the rachises; pulvini
glabrous; pedicels 1-4 mm, stout, stiff, divergent, without glandular bands.
Spikelets 4-7(11) mm long, 1.1-2.2 mm wide, narrowly ovate, reddish-purple
to greenish, occasionally grayish, with 7-12(20) florets; disarticulation acropetal,
paleas persistent. Glumes broadly ovate, membranous, 1-veined; lower
glumes 0.9-1.4 mm; upper glumes 1.2-1.6 mm; lemmas 1.4-1.8 mm,
broadly ovate, membranous, apices acute to obtuse; paleas 1.3-1.7 mm, hyaline,
keels scabrous, scabridities to 0.1 mm, apices obtuse to acute; anthers
3, 0.1-0.2 mm, reddish-brown. Caryopses 0.4-0.7 mm, ellipsoid, not grooved,
smooth to faintly striate, light brown. 2n
= 40.
Eragrostis barrelieri
is a European species that is now naturalized in
the Flora
region, primarily in the southwestern United States. It grows
on gravelly roadsides, in gardens, and other disturbed, sandy sites, especially
near railroad yards, at 10-2000 m. The ring of glandular tissue is most conspicuous
below the upper cauline nodes.
FNA 2003, Gould 1980, USDA GRIN
Common Name: Mediterranean lovegrass Duration: Annual Nativity: Non-Native Lifeform: Graminoid General: Tufted annual grass, stems erect to spreading, geniculate or decumbent at the base, branching at base, rings or patches of shiny yellow or pink- purplish glandular tissue on stems, inflorescence axes, and branches. Vegetative: Sheaths one-half the length of the internodes, glabrous except for pilose apex of margins; ligule a dense row of white hairs about 0.5 mm long; blades flat to involute, glabrous below, scabrous and scattered pilose above, 3-10 cm long, 1-5 mm wide. Inflorescence: Panicles ovoid and open, 5-16 cm long, 2-8 cm wide, rachis scabrous towards tip, branches ascending to spreading, glabrous, and often bearing spikelets nearly to the base; spikelets linear to oblong, straw-to-lead colored, flattened, 5-11 mm long, 1-1.5 mm wide, 6-15 flowered with a persistant rachilla; glumes ovate, acute to acuminate, hyaline, scabrous on keels; lower glume 1-1.5 mm, upper glume slightly longer; lemmas 2 mm; caryopsis cylindric, oblique at one end, pointed at other. Ecology: Found on roadsides and on disturbed ground, below 6,000 ft (1829 m); flowers August-October. Distribution: Native to Africa, Asia, and southern Europe. Naturalized in North and South America and Australia. Found throughout most of the southern half of the US, especially in AZ, NM and s. CA. Notes: A common weedy annual grass, introduced from Europe. The prominent glandular rings or patches are unique among the grasses in Arizona and Sonora. Look for the glandular rings especially below the upper stem nodes, where they are most conspicuous. Ethnobotany: Unknown Etymology: Eragrostis is from Greek eros, love and agrostis, grass, while barrelieri is named for the French botanist Jacques Barrelier (1606-1673). Synonyms: None Editor: SBuckley 2010, FSCoburn 2015, AHazelton 2015