类芦 lei lu

Arundo reynaudiana Kunth, Révis. Gramin. 1: 275. 1830; A. henslowiana Nees; A. zollingeri Buse; Neyraudia arundinacea var. zollingeri (Buse) Henrard; N. madagascariensis (Kunth) J. D. Hooker var. zollingeri (Buse) J. D. Hooker; N. mezii (Janowsky) Veldkamp; Thysanolaena mezii Janowski.

Perennial, robust, caespitose from a short woody scaly rhizome. Culms erect, 1–3 m tall, 3–10 mm in diam., usually fasciculately branched, many-noded, internodes somewhat glaucous, nodes purple. Leaf sheaths glabrous but pilose at mouth; leaf blades flat or involute, 20–70 × 0.4–1 cm, glabrous or adaxial surface pilose, apex long acuminate; ligule 1–2 mm. Panicle ample, loose to dense, glistening, 30–70 cm, branches slender, nodding; pedicels 1–4 mm. Spikelets 6–9 mm, florets 4–10, lowest sterile, resembling glumes but somewhat longer; glumes golden-brown or purplish, glabrous, subequal, 2–3 mm, acute; lemmas purplish, ca. 4 mm, lateral veins ciliate with white, soft, ca. 2 mm hairs, awn recurved, 1–2 mm. Fl. and fr. Aug–Dec.

Streamsides, hill slopes, rocky places, old walls. Anhui, Fujian, Gansu, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hainan, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Sichuan, Taiwan, Xizang, Yunnan, Zhejiang [Bhutan, Cambodia, NE India, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand, Vietnam].

The lower glume lies tight against the lowest sterile lemma and is easily overlooked.

This is an ornamental and soil-retaining grass.