''Melica dendroides'' is a grass species in the family

Poaceae Poaceae () or Gramineae () is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos and the grasses of natural grassland and species cultivated in lawns an ...

that is endemic to southern part of

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

Description

The species is

perennial A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wide ...

and is caespitose as well. It culms are long with tubular The leaf-sheaths which are closed on one side. The leaf-blades are convolute, erect, and are long and wide. The surface of a leaf-blade is scabrous while the membrane is eciliated. The

panicle A panicle is a much-branched inflorescence. (softcover ). Some authors distinguish it from a compound spike inflorescence, by requiring that the flowers (and fruit) be pedicellate (having a single stem per flower). The branches of a panicle are of ...

is open, linear, secund and is long. The main panicle

branch A branch, sometimes called a ramus in botany, is a woody structural member connected to the central trunk (botany), trunk of a tree (or sometimes a shrub). Large branches are known as boughs and small branches are known as twigs. The term '' ...

es are indistinct and almost racemose. Spikelets are cuneate and are solitary. They have fertile spikelets that are pediceled. The spikelets are also elliptic, are long, and have 2 fertile

floret This glossary of botanical terms is a list of definitions of terms and concepts relevant to botany and plants in general. Terms of plant morphology are included here as well as at the more specific Glossary of plant morphology and Glossary o ...

s which are diminished at the apex. Lemma is chartaceous, lanceolated, and is long and wide. Its lemma have an obtuse apex while the fertile

lemma Lemma may refer to: Language and linguistics * Lemma (morphology), the canonical, dictionary or citation form of a word * Lemma (psycholinguistics), a mental abstraction of a word about to be uttered Science and mathematics * Lemma (botany), a ...

itself is chartaceous, elliptic, keelless, and is long. It is also 7-9 veined while the surface of the lemma is villous with ciliated margins. Both the upper and lower

glumes In botany, a glume is a bract (leaf-like structure) below a spikelet in the inflorescence (flower cluster) of grasses (Poaceae) or the flowers of sedges (Cyperaceae). There are two other types of bracts in the spikelets of grasses: the lemma and ...

are elliptic, keelless, membranous, and are purple in colour. Their size is different though; lower one is long while the upper one is long. It palea is 2-veined. Flowers are fleshy, oblong, truncate, have 2

lodicule A spikelet, in botany, describes the typical arrangement of the flowers of grasses, sedges and some other Monocots. Each spikelet has one or more florets. The spikelets are further grouped into panicles or spikes. The part of the spikelet that ...

s and grow together. They have 3

anther The stamen (plural ''stamina'' or ''stamens'') is the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower. Collectively the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filam ...

s with

fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which flowering plants (also known as angiosperms) disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particu ...

s that are caryopsis. The fruit is also have additional pericarp with a linear hilum.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q13932614 dendriodes Flora of Africa