Forktip threeawn

Images

Click on image to view full size

Forktip threeawn spikelets

Forktip threeawn inflorescence

Forktip threeawn

Forktip threeawn

Forktip threeawn

Forktip threeawn awns

Morphology

Culm

Erect, wiry, hollow, glabrous, often rough, branching at nodes.

Blades

Very narrow, pale green, flat to often rolled inward, 1.2 to 3.2 inches long, 1/25 to 1/16 inch wide, glabrous or nearly so, sometimes soft-hairy near collar.

Sheath

Shorter than internodes, glabrous to rough.

Ligule

Small, hairy.

Inflorescence

Panicles, narrow, terminal and axillary; terminal 2 to 4 inches long, 2/5 to 4/5 inch wide, rather loose, branches ascending; lateral shorter, more slender, scarcely surpassing the sheaths.

Spikelets

Few, 1-flowered; glumes unequal, 1-veined, brown to purplish, tapering to points with short awns; upper glume 1/2 to 3/5 inch long; lower glume 1/4 to 2/5 inch long; lemmas narrow, firm, 1/3 to 2/5 inch long, light grey, mottled; bases prominent, soft-hairy; tip 3-awned; central awn 2/5 to 3/5 inch long, spirally coiled at base when dry; lateral awns 1/5 to 2/5 inch long, somewhat spreading, often curved or twisted at base but not coiled.

Ecology

Habitat

Open disturbed areas, pastures, roadsides, waste ground; dry, sandy soils.

Distribution

East 2/3 of Kansas.

Additional Notes