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Mexican Teosinte

Zea mexicana (Schrad.) Kuntze

Comprehensive Description

provided by North American Flora
Euchlaena mexicana Schrad. Ind. Sein. Hort. Goetting-
1832.— Linnaea 8 : Litt. 25. 1833.
Reana Giovanninii Brign. Ind. Setn. Hort. Mutin. 1849. — Ann. Sci. Nat. III. 12 ; 365. 1849. Reana luxurians Durieu, Bull. Soc. Acclira. II. 9: 581. 1872. Euchlaena Bourgaei Fourn. Bull. Soc. Bot. Belg. 15 : 468. 1876. Euchlaena Giovanninii Fourn. Bull. Soc. Bot. Belg. 15: 468. 1876." Euchlaena luxurians Durieu & Asch. Bull. Soc. L4nn. Paris 1 : 107. 1877.
A variable grass, perhaps representing more than one species. Stems up to 5 m. tall, slender or stout; leaf-blades up to 1 m. long and 8 cm. wide, usually elongate, lanceolate, acuminate ; staminate racemes up to 1.5 dm. long, the spikelets about 8 mm. long ; pistillate spikelets concealed in the leaf-sheaths, the internodes with oblique ends, hence when short appearing triangular.
Type locality : Mexico.
Distribution : Mexico and Guatemala, and extensively cultivated in warm and tropical regions.
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bibliographic citation
Percy Wilson, Per Axel Rydberg, Norman Taylor, Nathaniel Lord Britton, John Kunkel Small, George Valentine Nash. 1909. PANDANALES-POALES; TYPHACEAE, SPARGANACEAE, ELODEACEAE, HYDROCHARITACEAE, ZANNICHELLIACEAE, ZOSTERACEAE, CYMODOCEACEAE, NAIADACEAE, LILAEACEAE, SCHEUCHZERIACEAE, ALISMACEAE, BUTOMACEAE, POACEAE (pars). North American flora. vol 17(1). New York Botanical Garden, New York, NY
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Physical Description

provided by USDA PLANTS text
Annuals, Terrestrial, not aquatic, Prop roots present, Stems nod es swollen or brittle, Stems erect or ascending, Stems solitary, Stems terete, round in cross section, or polygonal, Stems branching above base or distally at nodes, Stem internodes solid or spongy, Stems with inflorescence 1-2 m tall, Stems with inflorescence 2-6 m tall, Stems, culms, or scapes exceeding basal leaves, Leaves mostly cauline, Leaves conspicuously 2-ranked, distichous, Leaves sheathing at base, Leaf sheath mostly open, or loose, Leaf sheath hairy, hispid or prickly, Leaf sheath and blade differentiated, Leaf sheath enlarged, inflated or distended, Leaf blades linear, Leaf blades lanceolate, Leaf blade auriculate, Leaf blades 2 or more cm wide, Leaf blades mostly flat, Leaf blade with prominently raised or widened midvein, Leaf blades more or less hairy, Leaf blades scabrous, roughened, or wrinkled, Ligule present, Ligule an unfringed eciliate membrane, Inflorescence terminal, Inflorescence lateral or axillary, Inflorescence a dense slender spike-like panicle or raceme, branches contracted, Inflorescence with 2 or more spikes, fascicles, glomerules, heads, or clusters per culm, Inflorescence spike linear or cylindric, several times longer than wide, Inflorescence a panicle with narrowly racemose or spicate branches, Inflorescence single raceme, fascicle or spike, Inflorescence with 2-10 branches, Inflorescence branches paired or digitate at a single node, Rachis enlarged, corky, Flowers unisexual, Plants monoecious, Spikelets sessile or subsessile, Spikelets laterally compressed, Inflorescence or spikelets partially hidden in leaf sheaths, subtended by spatheole, Spikelet less than 3 mm wide, Spikelets with 1 fertile floret, Spikelets with 2 florets, Spikelets solitary at rachis nodes, Spikelets in paired units, 1 sessile, 1 pedicellate, Pedicellate spikelet rudimentary or absent, usually sterile, Spikelets unisexual, Spikelets closely appressed or embedded in concave portions of axis, Monoecious - staminate and pistillate spi kelets on separate inflorescences, Glumes present, empty bracts, Glumes 2 clearly present, Glumes equal or subequal, Glumes equal to or longer than adjacent lemma, Lemmas thin, chartaceous, hyaline, cartilaginous, or membranous, Lemma 1 nerved, Lemma 3 nerved, Lemma glabrous, Lemma apex truncate, rounded, or obtuse, Lemma awnless, Lemma straight, Palea present, well developed, Palea membranous, hyaline, Palea longer than lemma, Stamens 3, Styles 2-fid, deeply 2-branched, Stigmas 2, Fruit - caryopsis.
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Dr. David Bogler
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Missouri Botanical Garden
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USDA NRCS NPDC
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