福建薄稃草 fu jian bao fu cao

Leptoloma fujianensis L. Liu, Bot. Res. Acad. Sin. 1: 41. 1983.

Annual. Culms tufted, erect, 30–50 cm tall, 4–5-noded. Leaf sheaths papillose-pilose; leaf blades linear or linear-lanceolate, 6–20 × 0.3–0.6 cm, thinly pilose, margins thickened, smooth, apex acuminate; ligule brown, 2–3 mm. Inflorescence paniculate, open, 12–18 cm; branches capillary, 5–10 cm, spreading; spikelets toward the panicle periphery; pedicels long, capillary, scaberulous. Spikelets lanceolate-elliptic, 3.3–4 mm, acute; lower glume ca. 0.5 mm, veinless, obtuse or emarginate; upper glume 3/4–4/5 as long as spikelet, 3–5-veined, appressed silky pubescent between lateral veins and along margins; lower lemma as long as spikelet, 7-veined, margins and intervein spaces appressed silky pubescent; upper lemma yellowish, apiculate. Anthers purplish, ca. 2 mm. Fl. and fr. Jul.

* Between rocks. Fujian.

This is a very unusual species on account of its diffuse, paniculate inflorescence, but the spikelets are typical of Digitaria. It is similar to D. cognata (Schultes) Pilger, from the E United States, but that species has smaller (2.5–3 mm) spikelets and shorter leaf blades. Digitaria to-mentosa (Koenig) Henrard, from Thailand and S India, also has an open, paniculate inflorescence, but differs in its broader leaf blades, up to 8 mm wide, and especially by the smaller (2.2–2.5 mm) spikelets with tiny glumes.