| # The grass genera of the world |

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

### Greslania Bal.

Habit, vegetative morphology. Shrubby perennial. Culms 100–300 cm high; woody and persistent; sparsely branched above, or unbranched above. Buds from which the primary culm branches arise 1. The branching simple. Culm leaf sheaths absent. Rhizomes pachymorph. Leaf blades pseudopetiolate. Contra-ligule absent.

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

Inflorescence. Inflorescence determinate; large, falsely paniculate (apical, of aggregated 1-spikelet racemes and their bracts and prophylls); non-digitate; spatheate; a complex of ‘partial inflorescences’ and intervening foliar organs. Spikelet-bearing axes very much reduced; persistent.

Female-fertile spikelets. Spikelets lanceolate, or ovate. Rachilla prolonged beyond the uppermost female-fertile floret; the rachilla extension with incomplete florets.

Glumes two; awnless; similar. Spikelets with incomplete florets. The incomplete florets distal to the female-fertile florets. The distal incomplete florets merely underdeveloped (rudimentary, pistillate). Spikelets without proximal incomplete florets.

Female-fertile florets 1. Lemmas not becoming indurated; entire; blunt; awnless; ‘lemma nerves obscure’. Palea present; not convolute; awnless, without apical setae; 2-keeled. Lodicules present; 3. Stamens 6. Ovary apically glabrous; with a conspicuous apical appendage. The appendage broadly conical, fleshy. Styles fused (short). Stigmas 3.

Fruit, embryo and seedling. Pericarp fleshy; free.

Abaxial leaf blade epidermis. Costal/intercostal zonation conspicuous. Papillae present; intercostal (in the stomatal bands only). Intercostal papillae over-arching the stomata; several per cell (various shapes, cuticularised). Mid-intercostal long-cells having markedly sinuous walls (these pitted, thick). Microhairs present; panicoid-type. Stomata common (obscured by papillae). Intercostal short-cells common; in cork/silica-cell pairs; silicified. Intercostal silica bodies tall-and-narrow. Costal short-cells conspicuously in long rows, or predominantly paired. Costal silica bodies saddle shaped.

Transverse section of leaf blade, physiology. C3; XyMS+. Mesophyll with non-radiate chlorenchyma; with arm cells; with fusoids (large). Leaf blade with distinct, prominent adaxial ribs; with the ribs more or less constant in size. Midrib conspicuous; having complex vascularization. Bulliforms present in discrete, regular adaxial groups; in simple fans (in the furrows). All the vascular bundles accompanied by sclerenchyma. Combined sclerenchyma girders present (with most bundles).

Special diagnostic feature. Not rush-like.

Classification. Watson & Dallwitz (1994): Bambusoideae; Bambusodae; Bambuseae. Soreng et al. (2015): Bambusoideae; Bambusodae; Bambuseae; Bambusinae. 4 species.

Distribution, phytogeography, ecology. New Caledonia.

References, etc. Leaf anatomical: Metcalfe 1960.

Special comments. Fruit data wanting.

Illustrations. • Greslania rivularis and G. montana (Camus, 1913). • Abbreviations for Camus (1913) figures.

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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