| # The grass genera of the world |

L. Watson, T.D. Macfarlane, and M.J. Dallwitz

### Fasciculochloa B.K. Simon & C.M. Weiller

From the Latin fasciculus (a small bundle), in reference to the fasciculate spikelets on the mature panicle branches.

~ Steinchisma hians, Panicum milioides

Type species: Type: F. sparshottiorum B.K. Simon & C.M. Weiller.

Habit, vegetative morphology. Perennial; caespitose. Culms about 40–70 cm high; herbaceous; sparingly branched above; 3–4 noded. Culm nodes exposed; glabrous. Culm leaves present. Culm internodes solid. Young shoots intravaginal. Leaves not basally aggregated; non-auriculate. Leaf blades linear; narrow; to 3.5 mm wide; flat; parallel veined; without cross venation; persistent. Ligule a fringed membrane; truncate; to 0.4 mm long. Contra-ligule absent.

Reproductive organization. Plants bisexual, all with bisexual spikelets; with hermaphrodite florets. The spikelets hermaphrodite.

Inflorescence. Inflorescence paniculate (fully exserted when mature, the spikelets fasciculate towards the ends of the branches); open. Inflorescence with axes ending in spikelets. Inflorescence espatheate; not comprising ‘partial inflorescences’ and foliar organs. Spikelet-bearing axes spikes. Spikelets obscurely paired, or solitary; not secund; pedicellate. Pedicel apices cupuliform. Spikelets imbricate.

Female-fertile spikelets. Spikelets to 2.5 mm long; obscurely adaxial; compressed laterally to not noticeably compressed; falling with the glumes; not disarticulating between the florets; with conventional internode spacings. The upper floret not stipitate. Rachilla terminated by a female-fertile floret; hairless. Hairy callus absent.

Glumes two; very unequal; shorter than the spikelets to about equalling the spikelets (the upper slightly shorter than the spikelet, the lower about half as long); shorter than the adjacent lemmas; hairless; glabrous; pointed to not pointed; awnless; non-carinate. Lower glume 0.6 times the length of the upper glume; much shorter than half length of lowest lemma; 3 nerved. Upper glume not saccate; 3–5 nerved. Spikelets with incomplete florets. The incomplete florets proximal to the female-fertile florets. Spikelets with proximal incomplete florets. The proximal incomplete florets 1; paleate. Palea of the proximal incomplete florets fully developed; becoming hardened. The proximal incomplete florets sterile. The proximal lemmas awnless; 5 nerved; more or less equalling the female-fertile lemmas to decidedly exceeding the female-fertile lemmas; similar in texture to the female-fertile lemmas (membranous); not becoming indurated.

Female-fertile florets 1. Lemmas elliptic; not saccate; similar in texture to the glumes (chartaceous); smooth; not becoming indurated; entire; pointed (acute); not crested; awnless; hairless; non-carinate; having the margins lying flat on the palea; without a germination flap (?); obscurely 2 nerved. Palea present; relatively long; tightly clasped by the lemma; entire; awnless, without apical setae; textured like the lemma; not indurated. Palea back glabrous. Lodicules present; 2; seemingly basally joined; glabrous; not or scarcely vascularized. Stamens 2. Anthers about 0.75 mm long; not penicillate; without an apically prolonged connective. Ovary apically glabrous. Styles free to their bases; free. Stigmas 2.

Fruit, embryo and seedling. Disseminule a free caryopsis. Fruit small (about 2.2 mm long); not grooved; glabrous. Hilum short (about 5% of the fruit length). Embryo large (about 30% of the fruit length); waisted. Endosperm hard.

Abaxial leaf blade epidermis. Costal/intercostal zonation conspicuous. Papillae absent. Long-cells similar in shape costally and intercostally; of similar wall thickness costally and intercostally. Intercostal zones with typical long-cells. Mid-intercostal long-cells rectangular; having markedly sinuous walls. Microhairs present; elongated; clearly two-celled; panicoid-type. Microhair apical cell wall thinner than that of the basal cell and often collapsed. Microhairs 51–69 microns long; 6 microns wide at the septum. Microhair apical cells 27–30 microns long. Stomata common; 18–27 microns long. Subsidiaries non-papillate; dome-shaped; not including both parallel-sided and triangular forms on the same leaf. Guard-cells overlapping to flush with the interstomatals. Intercostal short-cells fairly common; not paired (solitary); not silicified. Intercostal silica bodies absent. Intercostal prickles present, macrohairs absent. Crown cells absent. Costal short-cells conspicuously in long rows. Costal silica bodies present and well developed; ‘panicoid-type’; dumb-bell shaped.

Transverse section of leaf blade, physiology. C3; XyMS+. Mesophyll with non-radiate chlorenchyma; without adaxial palisade; not Isachne-type; not traversed by colourless columns. Leaf blade ‘nodular’ in section to adaxially flat; with the ribs more or less constant in size. Midrib not readily distinguishable; with one bundle only; without colourless mesophyll adaxially. Bulliforms present in discrete, regular adaxial groups; in simple fans. All the vascular bundles accompanied by sclerenchyma. Combined sclerenchyma girders present; forming ‘figures’ to nowhere forming ‘figures’ (some slight ‘anchors’). Sclerenchyma all associated with vascular bundles.

Classification. Watson & Dallwitz (1994): Panicoideae; Panicodae; Paniceae. Soreng et al. (2015): Panicoideae; Panicodae; Paspaleae; Otachyriinae. 1 species (F. sparshottiorum).

Distribution, phytogeography, ecology. Southeast Queensland.

Helophytic to mesophytic; glycophytic.

References, etc. Morphological/taxonomic: Simon and Weiller (1995). Leaf anatomical: Simon and Weiller (1995).

Illustrations. • Abaxial epidermis of leaf blade of Fasciculochloa sparshottiorum: this project.

We advise against extracting comparative information from the descriptions. This is much more easily achieved using the DELTA data files or the interactive key, which allows access to the character list, illustrations, full and partial descriptions, diagnostic descriptions, differences and similarities between taxa, lists of taxa exhibiting or lacking specified attributes, distributions of character states within any set of taxa, geographical distribution, and classifications. See also Guidelines for using data taken from Web publications.

Cite this publication as: ‘Watson, L., Macfarlane, T.D., and Dallwitz, M.J. 1992 onwards. The grass genera of the world: descriptions, illustrations, identification, and information retrieval; including synonyms, morphology, anatomy, physiology, phytochemistry, cytology, classification, pathogens, world and local distribution, and references. Version: 15th June 2025. delta-intkey.com’.

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