''Oplismenus'' is a small

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

annual Annual may refer to: *Annual publication, periodical publications appearing regularly once per year ** Yearbook ** Literary annual *Annual plant *Annual report *Annual giving *Annual, Morocco, a settlement in northeastern Morocco *Annuals (band), ...

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 wid ...

grass 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 a ...

es, commonly known as basketgrass, found throughout the

tropics The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the Equator. They are defined in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere at N and the Tropic of Capricorn in the Southern Hemisphere at S. The tropics are also referr ...

, subtropics, and in some cases,

temperate In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (23.5° to 66.5° N/S of Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ranges throughout ...

regions of the

Americas The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World. Along with th ...

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 ...

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...

, and Australia. The systematics of the genus are unclear, with over 100 described

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

, only 7 species are officially recognized as of 2016.

Accepted species

The following list includes all currently recognized species of the genus ''Oplismenus'' accepted by the

Catalogue of Life The Catalogue of Life is an online database that provides an index of known species of animals, plants, fungi, and microorganisms. It was created in 2001 as a partnership between the global Species 2000 and the American Integrated Taxonomic I ...

and

World Checklist of Selected Plant Families The World Checklist of Selected Plant Families (usually abbreviated to WCSP) is an "international collaborative programme that provides the latest peer reviewed and published opinions on the accepted scientific names and synonyms of selected pla ...

as of March 2016, sorted alphabetically. For each, binomial name is followed by author citation.

Description

The members of this genus are scrambling or trailing herbaceous grasses, both annual and perennial. The stems trail along the ground and can root at the nodes. The leaf blades are generally lance-shaped or acuminate to ovate and are covered in scattered hairs, and the leaf sheaths are hairy. Oplismenuspath

Ecology

These plants generally grow in shaded habitats such as the forest floor. Annual-type species will usually die off in cooler or drier months while the perennial species typically have much more tolerance. Some species have considerable invasive potential. Unlike some of their relatives, members of this genus use C3 photosynthesis.

Taxonomy

The French naturalist

Palisot de Beauvois Ambroise Marie François Joseph Palisot, Baron de Beauvois (27 July 1752, in Arras – 21 January 1820, in Paris) was a French naturalist and zoologist. Palisot collected insects in Oware, Benin, Saint Domingue, and the United States, from 17 ...

described the genus in August or September 1810 in his ''Flore d'Oware et de Benin''. At a later date, however, it was noted that Robert Brown had also defined the genus earlier the same year, as ''Orthopogon'', in his work ''

Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae ''Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae et Insulae Van Diemen'' (Prodromus of the Flora of New Holland and Van Diemen's Land) is a flora of Australia written by botanist Robert Brown and published in 1810. Often referred to as ''Prodromus Flora Novae ...

''. Nevertheless, because the name ''Oplismenus'' had been universally used for many years, it was ruled a ''nomen conservandum'' ( conserved name) in 1978. The generic name is derived from the

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic p ...

''hoplismenos'' ("armed"), because the glumes have awns. The number of species is unclear, with some disagreement among botanists. In Australia, ''Oplismenus aemulus'' and ''O. imbecillis'' are recognised as separate species by the Queensland and New South Wales Herbaria, but not by the National Herbarium, which classifies them as synonyms of ''O. hirtellus''. A multiple discriminant analysis published in 1978 of the characteristics used to define the species of ''Oplismenus'' worldwide found a high degree of overlap in Australia, indicating ''O. aemulus'' and ''O. imbecilis'' fell within the parameters of ''O. hirtellus'', as did the American taxon ''O. setarius''. The other American taxon, ''O. rariflorus'', fell within ''O. compositus''. The authors proposed the recognition of only five species: *'' Oplismenus burmannii'' - pantropical *'' Oplismenus thwaitesii'' - Sri Lanka (may be synonymous with ''O. burmannii'') *'' Oplismenus compositus'' - Americas, Africa, Asia, Australia, Pacific *'' Oplismenus hirtellus'' - tropics, but replaced in India and Indochina by ''O. compositus'' *'' Oplismenus undulatifolius'' - widespread The German botanist Ursula Scholz published a monograph in 1981, having studied the genus throughout the world and examined over five thousand specimens, including 61

type specimen In biology, a type is a particular specimen (or in some cases a group of specimens) of an organism to which the scientific name of that organism is formally attached. In other words, a type is an example that serves to anchor or centralizes th ...

s. She recognized nine species and 18 infraspecific taxa. *Section ''Scabriseta'' **''O. affinis'' Schult. ***''O. affinis'' var. ''affinis'' ***''O. affinis'' var. ''humboldtianus'' **''O. baronii'' **'' O. burmannii'' ***''O. burmannii'' var. ''burmannii'' ***''O. burmannii'' var. ''lanatus'' ***''O. burmannii'' var. ''multisetus'' **'' O. flavicomus'' **''O. gracillimus'' **''O. humbertianus'' Starr 050415-0054 Oplismenus hirtellus

*Section ''Oplismenus'' **'' O. aemulus'' ***''O. aemulus'' var. ''aemulus'' ***''O. aemulus'' var. ''flaccidus'' ***''O. aemulus'' var. ''densiflorus'' **'' O. compositus'' ***''O. compositus'' var. ''compositus'' ***''O. compositus'' var. ''rariflorus'' ***''O. compositus'' var. ''sylvaticus'' **'' O. hirtellus'' ***''O. hirtellus'' subsp. ''hirtellus'' ***''O. hirtellus'' subsp. ''acuminatus'' ***''O. hirtellus'' subsp. ''capensis'' ***''O. hirtellus'' subsp. ''fasciculatus'' ***''O. hirtellus'' subsp. ''imbecillis'' ***''O. hirtellus'' subsp. ''japonicus'' ***''O. hirtellus'' subsp. ''microphyllus'' ***''O. hirtellus'' subsp. ''psilostachys'' ***''O. hirtellus'' subsp. ''setarius'' ***''O. hirtellus'' subsp. ''tsushimensis'' ***''O. hirtellus'' subsp. ''undulatifolius''

Uses

Variegated forms have been cultivated as house plants in Europe. Locally occurring species in Australia have been used for revegetation and reclamation in shady or wet areas, though some can be invasive. Some have been promoted as local native plants for wildlife gardens, and as

lawn A lawn is an area of soil-covered land planted with grasses and other durable plants such as clover which are maintained at a short height with a lawnmower (or sometimes grazing animals) and used for aesthetic and recreational purposes. ...

grass. They are edible to livestock.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2503609 Grasses of Africa Grasses of Asia Grasses of Oceania Grasses of North America Grasses of South America Poaceae genera Taxa named by Palisot de Beauvois