Interesting Facts
Description
Genus Aeluropus
Perennials
, tough, stoloniferous
or rhizomatous
. Leaf blades
stiff, rolled, often markedly distichous, pungent
; ligule a narrow ciliate
membrane
. Inflorescence spikelike or capitate, composed of short, erect
racemes
of subsessile
, tightly imbricate spikelets
appressed
to a central axis. Spikelets ovate-lanceolate, laterally compressed
, florets
several to many, rachilla disarticulating
above glumes
and between florets; glumes shorter than lemmas, papery
with broad scarious
margins
, lower glume 1-3-veined, upper glume 5-7-veined; lemmas ovate
, resembling glumes in texture
, strongly 7-11-veined, glabrous
or hairy
on margins, rounded
on back, acute or mucronate
; palea keels ciliate or scabrid
, apex truncate
.
About ten species:Mediterranean region to N China, also in NE tropical
Africa, S India, and Sri Lanka; four species (two endemic) in China.
This is a genus of grasses adapted to saline soils in desert regions, where they provide valuable fodder
where little else will grow. The tough, widely spreading
rhizomes and stolons make them effective soil stabilizers.
All the species listed here are offshoots
from the widespread and highly variable species Aeluropus littoralis (Gouan) Parlatore, which occurs from Europe to temperate
Asia. The most appropriate status for the taxa within this species complex is still uncertain.[1]
Taxonomy
- Domain:
Eukaryota
(
)
- Whittaker & Margulis,1978
- eukaryotes
- Kingdom:
Plantae
()
- Haeckel, 1866
- Plants
- Subkingdom:
Viridaeplantae
()
- Cavalier-Smith, 1981
- Phylum:
Tracheophyta
()
- Sinnott, 1935 ex Cavalier-Smith, 1998
- Vascular Plants
- Subphylum:
Euphyllophytina
()
- (Auct.) Cavalier-Smith, 1998
- Infraphylum:
Angiospermae
()
- Auct.
- Class:
Magnoliopsida
()
- Brongniart, 1843
- Dicotyledons
- Subclass:
Commelinidae
()
- Takhtajan, 1967
- Superorder:
Juncanae
()
- Takhtajan, 1967
- Order:
Poales
()
- Small, 1903
- Family:
Gramineae
()
- A.L. de Jussieu, 1789, nom. cons., nom. alt.
- Subfamily:
Chloridoideae
()
- Tribe:
Cynodonteae
()
- Genus:
Aeluropus
()
- Trinius, 1822
- Specific epithet:
hirsutus
- Munro
- Botanical name: - Aeluropus hirsutus Munro
- Specific epithet:
hirsutus
- Munro
- Genus:
Aeluropus
(
- Tribe:
Cynodonteae
(
- Subfamily:
Chloridoideae
(
- Family:
Gramineae
(
- Order:
Poales
(
- Superorder:
Juncanae
(
- Subclass:
Commelinidae
(
- Class:
Magnoliopsida
(
- Infraphylum:
Angiospermae
(
- Subphylum:
Euphyllophytina
(
- Phylum:
Tracheophyta
(
- Subkingdom:
Viridaeplantae
(
- Kingdom:
Plantae
(
Notes
Publishing author : Munro Publication : Cat. Kew Distrib. Griffith, &c. 57, nomen.
Similar Species
Members of the genus Aeluropus
ZipcodeZoo has pages for 0 species, subspecies, varieties, forms, and cultivars in this genus:
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Further Reading
Notes
Contributors
- Brands, S.J. (comp.) 1989-present. The Taxonomicon. Universal Taxonomic Services, Zwaag, The Netherlands. Accessed January 21, 2012.
Identifiers
- Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 4570460
Footnotes
- Shou-liang Chen & Sylvia M. Phillips "Aeluropus". in Flora of China Vol. 22 Page 1, 457, 458. Published by Science Press (Beijing) and Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
