Common name: Whorled Pigeon Grass
Setaria verticillata (L.) P.Beauv. APNI* Synonyms: Setaria verticilliformis Dumort. APNI*
Description: Loosely tufted annuals to c. 1 m tall. Culms erect but usually geniculate at the base, slender, glabrous, scabrous below the panicle.
Sheaths compressed; ligule densely ciliate, c. 1 mm long; blade flat, linear or narrow-lanceolate, acuminate, 5–30 cm long, 3–12 mm wide, glabrous or almost so.
Inflorescence spike-like, erect or curved, dense, cylindrical, 3–15 cm long; bristles retrorsely-barbed. Spikelets 2–2.2 mm long, clustered on short branches, a bristle below each spikelet, green or pallid. Lower glume c. 30% spikelet length, obtuse; upper as long as spikelet, rounded, 5-nerved. Lower lemma sterile, 5-nerved; palea 50% lemma length or sometimes absent. Upper lemma bisexual, finely transversely rugose, obtuse; palea similar to lemma.
Flowering: Flowers in summer.
Distribution and occurrence: Grows in cultivated or disturbed land. Native of trop. & temp. regions of Old World.
NSW subdivisions: *CC, *SC, *CT, *ST, *NWS, *CWS, *SWS, *NWP, *SWP, *SFWP, *LHI
Other Australian states: *Qld *Vic. *W.A. *S.A. *N.T.
Text by Jacobs, S.W.L., Whalley, R.D.B. & Wheeler, D.J.B.
Taxon concept: Grasses of New South Wales, Fourth Edition (2008).
APNI* Provides a link to the Australian Plant Name Index (hosted by the Australian National Botanic Gardens) for comprehensive bibliographic data
***The AVH map option provides a detailed interactive Australia wide distribution map drawn from collections held by all major Australian herbaria participating in the Australian Virtual Herbarium project.
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