Contains 25 accepted taxa overall.
Characteristics
Classification
Citation
XYRIS Gronovius, in Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 42. 1753.
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TYPE: Xyris indica Linnaeus 1753.
Species
| Scientific Name | Common Name | Herbarium Specimens | Status | Photos |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Xyris ambigua | COASTALPLAIN YELLOWEYED GRASS | Native OBL (NWPL) OBL (DEP) | ||
| Xyris baldwiniana | BALDWIN'S YELLOWEYED GRASS | Native OBL (NWPL) OBL (DEP) | ||
| Xyris brevifolia | SHORTLEAF YELLOWEYED GRASS | Native OBL (NWPL) OBL (DEP) | ||
| Xyris calcicola | LIMESTONE YELLOWEYED GRASS | Native | ||
| Xyris caroliniana | CAROLINA YELLOWEYED GRASS | Native FACW (NWPL) FACW (DEP) | ||
| Xyris correlliorum | CORRELL'S YELLOWEYED GRASS | Native | ||
| Xyris curtissii | CURTISS' YELLOWEYED GRASS | Native OBL (DEP) | ||
| Xyris difformis | BOG YELLOWEYED GRASS | Native OBL (NWPL) OBL (DEP) | ||
| Xyris drummondii | DRUMMOND'S YELLOWEYED GRASS | Native OBL (NWPL) OBL (DEP) | ||
| Xyris elliottii | ELLIOTT'S YELLOWEYED GRASS | Native OBL (NWPL) OBL (DEP) | ||
| Xyris fimbriata | FRINGED YELLOWEYED GRASS | Native OBL (NWPL) OBL (DEP) | ||
| Xyris flabelliformis | SAVANNAH YELLOWEYED GRASS | Native OBL (NWPL) OBL (DEP) | ||
| Xyris floridana | FLORIDA YELLOWEYED GRASS | Native OBL (NWPL) OBL (DEP) | ||
| Xyris isoetifolia | QUILLWORT YELLOWEYED GRASS | Native Rare-State OBL (NWPL) OBL (DEP) | ||
| Xyris jupicai | RICHARD'S YELLOWEYED GRASS | Native OBL (NWPL) FACW (DEP) | ||
| Xyris laxifolia var. iridifolia | IRISLEAF YELLOWEYED GRASS | Native OBL (NWPL) | ||
| Xyris longisepala | KRAL'S YELLOWEYED GRASS; KRAL'S POND YELLOWEYED GRAS | Native Rare-State OBL (NWPL) OBL (DEP) | ||
| Xyris louisianica | LOUISIANA YELLOWEYED GRASS; KRAL'S YELLOWEYED GRASS | Native OBL (NWPL) OBL (DEP) | ||
| Xyris panacea | ST. MARKS YELLOWEYED GRASS | Native Rare-State | ||
| Xyris platylepis | TALL YELLOWEYED GRASS | Native OBL (NWPL) OBL (DEP) | ||
| Xyris scabrifolia | HARPER'S YELLOWEYED GRASS | Native Threatened-State OBL (NWPL) OBL (DEP) | ||
| Xyris serotina | ACIDSWAMP YELLOWEYED GRASS | Native OBL (NWPL) OBL (DEP) | ||
| Xyris smalliana | SMALL'S YELLOWEYED GRASS | Native OBL (NWPL) OBL (DEP) | ||
| Xyris stenotera | Native | |||
| Xyris stricta | PINELAND YELLOWEYED GRASS | Native OBL (NWPL) OBL (DEP) |
Identification Key
1. Plants 4-30(60) cm tall; leaves 2-10(15) cm long; scapes 0.5-1 mm wide; scape sheaths mostly equaling or exceeding principal leaves; spikes 3-8(10) mm long; lateral sepals 2-5 mm long, the keels subentire, papillate, or ciliate; seeds 0.3–0.5 mm long
2
1. Plants (10)15-150 cm tall; leaves 5-70 cm long; scapes 0.7-3 mm wide; scape sheaths exceeded by leaves; spikes 5-30 mm long; lateral sepals 4-15 mm long, the keels subentire, ciliate, long-fimbriate, or lacerate; seeds 0.4-1 mm long
4
2. Spikes mostly as broad as long; margins of fertile bracts scarious, lacerate, often squarrose with red inner band; lateral sepal keel reddish apically
2. Spikes mostly longer than broad; margins of fertile bracts entire or erose; lateral sepal keel not reddish apically, concolorous
3
3. Leaf sheath base with distinct chestnut brown patch; leaf blades olive green; scape sheath subequal to leaves
3. Leaf sheath base without chestnut brown patch; leaf blades strongly maroon-tinged; scape sheath exceeding the leaves
4. Leaf blades 0.5-2.5(3) mm wide
5
4. Leaf blades (2)3-25 mm wide
9
5. Leaf blades with or without a distinct light margin; spike bracts lacerate and often recurved
6
5. Leaf blades without a distinct margin; spike bracts entire or erose, erect
7
6. Leaf blades flat, with a distinct light margin on both sides, the blades usually wider than the scape
6. Leaf blades terete to flattened, usually with only one side having a distinct light margin or absent, occasionally on both sides, the blades subequal to or narrower than the scape
7. Plants 30-90 cm tall; leaf sheath pinkish, soft; leaf blades 1-2.5(3) mm wide; spikes 10-32 mm long; lateral sepal exserted 0-1 mm beyond the subtending bract
8
7. Plants 15-40(50) cm tall; leaf sheath lustrous brown to red-brown, chaffy or firm; leaf blades 0.5-1 mm wide; spikes 4-7(10) mm long; lateral sepal included
9
8. Rhizomes scaly; spikes 20-32 mm long; lateral sepal not or scarcely exserted; petal blade slightly erose to shallowly serrate distally; seeds with regular rectangular alveolae
8. Rhizomes absent; spikes 10-16 mm long; lateral sepal exserted 0.5-1 mm beyond the subtending bract; petal blade deeply lacerate apically; seeds with obscure alveolae
9. Staminodes not bearded; seeds (0.7)0.8-1 mm long, finely lined longitudinally
9. Staminodes with a dense bearded tuft; seeds 0.5 mm long, strongly longitudinally ribbe
10. Lateral sepal keel long-fimbriate, the fimbriae 0.4-1 mm long and nearly subequal to the blade width
11
10. Lateral sepal keel subentire, lacerate, or ciliate
13
11. Leaves not in fans; leaf sheath coriaceous, lustrous, brown; leaf blades twisted; scape edges smooth to lightly scabrous; petals expanding in afternoon sepal fimbriae reddish;
11. Leaves in fans; leaf sheath chartaceous, dull, pinkish to pale yellow or green; leaf blades flat to scarcely twisted; scape edges strongly scabrous; petals expanding in morning; sepal fimbriae pale
12
12. Stolons absent; plant base pale green, soft; spikes 12-25 mm long; style branches mostly ascending to erect
12. Stolons sometimes present; plant base dark reddish, coriaceous-bulbous; spikes 20-40(45) mm long; style branches spreading
13. Lateral sepal keel regularly ciliate through most of length
14
13. Lateral sepal keel entire to lacerate, or with irregular teeth
16
14. Leaf sheaths pinkish, pale purplish, to pale yellowish; leaf blade usually pale green, margins often with elongate papillae; petal blade 8-11 mm long
14. Leaf sheaths dark reddish, purplish, or brownish; leaf blade deep green with maroon tints, margins usually minutely roughened or with low, rounded papillae; petal blade 3-5 mm long
14
15. Scape strongly 2-ribbed with intervening minor ribs, distally somewhat flattened and narrower than the spike; spike 1-2(2.7) mm long; seeds pale
15. Scape sharply 2-ribbed without intervening minor ribs or these obscure, distally flattened and nearly as wide as the spike; spike (1.5)2-3(3.5) mm long; seeds dark
16. Lateral sepals slightly to strongly exserted from the subtending bracts
16. Lateral sepals included in the subtending bracts
17
17. Plant base often pinkish; leaf blade distally twisted; scapes flexuous, often spirally twisted
18
17. Plant base not pinkish; leaf blade usually not twisted; scapes usually not flexuous, not twisted
21
18. Plants 50 cm tall; spikes tilted 10-20 degrees from scape apex; seed surface farinose
18. Plants 50- cm tall; spikes straight and erect with the scape apex; seed surface not farinose
18
19. Base of plant deeply set in substrate, not bulbous, lacking outer scale leaves; leaf blades 2-4 mm wide; petals blades 2.8-4 mm long
19. Base of plant shallowly set in substrate, bulbous, with blackish outer scale leaves; leaf blades 2-10 mm wide; petal blades 4.5-5.5 mm long
20
20. Leaf blade and scape smooth or scabrous only along edges; petal blades obovate, white or yellow; seeds ovoid, 0.5-0.6 mm long
20. Leaf blade and scape surfaces prominently papillose or tuberculate-scabrid; petal blades suborbicular, yellow; seeds narrowly ovoid or ellipsoidal, 0.6-1 mm long
21. Scape with 2 prominent edges, otherwise without intervening ridges or these few and obscure, scape distally strongly flattened, (2)2.5-4 mm wide
22
21. Scape with numerous prominent ridges (at least proximally), scape distally terete to slightly flattened, 1-2(2.5) mm wide
23
22. Scape edges wing-like, each edge ca. ½ as wide or more as the central part; spikes 5-15(20) mm long
22. Scape edges not wing-like, each edge <½ as wide as the central part; spikes 20-35 mm long
23. Leaf blades bright yellow-green, the surface smooth to sparsely scabrid; seeds translucent
24
23. Leaf blades dull green, the surface minutely papillate to tuberculate-scabrid with distinct dark striations; seeds farinose or dark
25
24. Perennial, usually cespitose; leaf base pinkish or purplish, spreading to expose dark scape base; leaf blades linear-curvaceous, spreading, 5-10(15) cm long; spikes (3-)5 mm long; petals not persistent
24. Annual, solitary or cespitose; leaf base pale yellowish, rarely pinkish, not spreading, scape base concealed; leaf blades ascending, (5)10-60 cm long; spikes 7-15(25) mm long; petals often persistent, turning black
25. Plants solitary or in loosely cespitose; leaf bases dark purplish, rarely pinkish; spikes sharply acute
25. Plants densely cespitose; leaf bases dark brown to gray (inner ones pale); spikes bluntly acute
Genus Synonyms
| Synonym | Full Citation | Basionym | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jupica | Jupica Rafinesque, Fl. Tellur. 2: 15. 1837 ("1836"). | TYPE: Jupica cerulea Rafinesque 1837, nom. illegit. (Xyris americana Aublet 1775.) | |
| Kotsjiletti | Kotsjiletti Adanson, Fam. Pl. 2: 60, 544. 1763. | TYPE: = Xyris Gronovius 1753. | |
| Ramotha | Ramotha Rafinesque, Fl. Tellur. 2: 15. 1837 ("1836"). | TYPE: = Xyris Gronovius 1753. | |
| Synoliga | Synoliga Rafinesque, Fl. Tellur. 2: 15. 1837 ("1836"). | TYPE: Non designatus. | |
| Xyroides | Xyroides Du Petit-Thouars, Gen. Nov. Madag. 4. 1806. | TYPE: Non designatus. |