淡竹葉屬

Lophatherum gracile leaf cs section Credit: cs kuoh

Perennial; leaf-blades narrowly lanceolate, falsely petiolate. Inflorescence of loose or dense unilateral racems on a central axis. Spikelets falling entire, 1-flowered plus rhachilla extension bearing a bunch of up to 9 sterile lemmas; lemma with a retrorsely scaberulous awn, those of the sterile lemmas developing into a fan of recurved hooks at maturity; stemen 2-3.

Tropical Asia. Forest.

Species 2. The awn of the sterile lemmas function as a dispersal device. An unusual feature is the occurrence of food-storing root tubers.

Lower Taxon

• Lophatherum gracile Brongn