Urochloa kurzii

Urochloa kurzii (Hook. f.) Nguyen. Lecomte,
Fl. Indo-Chine
7: 438 (1922).

Classification. (GPWG 2001) : Subfamily
Panicoideae. Paniceae.

Basionym and/or
Replacement Name:
 Panicum kurzii
Hook. f., Fl. Brit. India 7(21): 38 (1897) [1896].

Type of Basionym or
Protologue Information
: India:
lower Bengal: Seebpore, Kurz s.n. (LT:
K).

Recent synonyms:
Brachiaria kurzii.

Key references
(books and floras):
[2002] D.Sharp & B.K.Simon, AusGrass, Grasses of
Australia

(as Brachiaria).

Habit. Annual.
Rhizomes absent. Stolons absent or present. Culms decumbent, 15–60 cm tall.
Mid-culm internodes pubescent. Mid-culm nodes pubescent. Ligule a fringe of
hairs. Leaf-blades lanceolate, 2–8 cm long, 2–18 mm wide. Leaf-blade surface
glabrous or indumented.

Inflorescence.
Inflorescence compound, a panicle of racemes. Racemes 3–7, 5–7.5 cm long, 1.5
mm wide. Central inflorescence axis 3.5–8 cm long.

Spikelets.
Spikelets pedicelled. Fertile spikelets 2-flowered, the lower floret barren
(rarely male), the upper fertile, comprising 1 basal sterile florets,
comprising 1 fertile floret(s), without rachilla extension, elliptic, dorsally
compressed, 2.5–3.5 mm long. Rhachilla internodes elongated between glumes.

Glumes. Glumes
dissimilar, thinner than fertile lemma. Lower glume ovate, membranous, without
keels, 3–7 -nerved. Upper glume ovate, 1.25–3.5 mm long, membranous, without
keels, 7 -nerved. Upper glume surface glabrous. Upper glume apex muticous or
mucronate. Florets. Basal sterile florets 1, male or barren, with palea
or without significant palea. Lemma of lower sterile floret 100 % of length of
spikelet, membranous, 5–7 -nerved.

Fertile lemma 2.1–3 mm
long, without keel. Lemma apex mucronate. Palea without keels.

Continental
Distribution
: Tropical Asia and Australasia.

Australian
Distribution
: Western Australia, Queensland.

Western Australia: Dampier. Queensland: Cook.

Notes.
First reported as introduced into Australia by Blake in Proc. Roy.
Soc. Queensl. 81: 4 (1969). Blake cites two specimens, however, the collection
from W.A. (Lazarides 4851) is Brachiaria ramosa. The present status of
this species in Australia
is uncertain.

Introduced. Native to India. In
tropical and subtropical rain forests and tropical and subtropical sub-humid
woodlands. Flowers May.

AVH 2011

 

Scratchpads developed and conceived by (alphabetical): Ed Baker, Katherine Bouton Alice Heaton Dimitris Koureas, Laurence Livermore, Dave Roberts, Simon Rycroft, Ben Scott, Vince Smith