结缕草 jie lü cao

Zoysia koreana Mez; Z. matrella (Linnaeus) Merrill subsp. japonica (Steudel) Masamune & Yanagita; Z. matrella var. japonica (Steudel) Sasaki; Z. pungens Willdenow var. japonica (Steudel) Hackel.

Perennial, with long slender stolons, forming large mats. Culms erect, up to 20 cm tall, sometimes branched at base. Leaf sheaths glabrous, pilose at mouth with 1–2 mm hairs, basal sheaths persistent; leaf blades aggregated toward culm base, linear-lanceolate, flat or margins involute, tough, patent, 2.5–6 cm, 2–4 mm wide, abaxial surface subglabrous, adaxial surface thinly pilose, apex pungent. Inflorescence linear-elliptic, 2–4 × 0.3–0.5 cm, long exserted above leaves; spikelets many, loosely overlapping; pedicels slender, slightly flexuous, longer than spikelet, up to 5 mm. Spikelets 2.5–3.5 × 1–1.5 mm, yellowish green becoming purplish brown; lower glume absent; upper glume obliquely ovate, obscurely 5–7-veined, upper margins broad, papery, apex obtuse, sometimes mucronate; lemma boat-shaped, slightly shorter than glume, 1-veined; palea absent. Anthers ca. 1.5 mm. Caryopsis 1.5–2 mm. Fl. and fr. May–Aug. 2n = 40.

Coastal areas, grassy hillsides, open places. Hebei, Hong Kong, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Liaoning, Shandong, Taiwan, Zhejiang [Japan, Korea].

This species can be distinguished by its relatively short, broad leaf blades, broadly linear inflorescence well exserted above the leaves, and many short, plump spikelets on long, slender pedicels.

This species is a good lawn grass.