毛画眉草 mao hua mei cao

Poa ciliaris Linnaeus, Syst. Nat., ed. 10, 2: 875. 1759; Cynodon ciliaris (Linnaeus) Raspail; Megastachya ciliaris (Linnaeus) P. Beauvois; Poa amboinica Linnaeus.

Annual. Culms slender, tufted, 10–70 cm tall. Leaf sheaths with long silky hairs; ligules a line of ca. 0.4 mm hairs; leaf blades ca. 15 × 0.3 cm, adaxial surface with silky hairs. Panicle purplish, contracted, spikelike. Spikelets ca. 2 mm, many-flowered. Glumes chartaceous, deltoid-lanceolate,1-veined, apex pointed, lower glume slightly shorter than upper glume, upper glume ca. 1 mm. Lemmas chartaceous, 0.8–1.3 mm, midrib of back with short glandular hairs, glabrous to scabrous along the margins, apex mucronate. Palea oblanceolate, chartaceous, equal to lemma, along 2 keels ciliate, cilia longer than the width of the palea. Caryopsis ca. 0.3 mm, the embryo 1/2 the length of the caryopsis. Fl. and fr. in autumn. 2n = 20, 40.

Dry places. Taiwan [tropical and subtropical regions of the world].

Eragrostis ciliaris is often confused with E. ciliata, but the latter species is a perennial with lemmas 2–2.5 mm, membranous, and pubescent abaxially and the palea slightly shorter than the lemma.