Eragrostis minor Host, Poaceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Other Latin names:  Eragrostis poaeoides Beauv. ex Roem. & Schult.

Common name(s): [more details]

Chinese: xiao hua mei cao

English: little love grass, smaller stinkgrass

French: petite éragrostide

Habit:  grass

Description:  "Annual.  Leaf sheath with white, hairy tuft at apex.  Leaf blade narrow-linear, to c. 10 cm long.  Margins usually with small glandular depressions.  Panicles to c. 50 cm high, with open habit.  Spikelets stalked, mostly 4-8 mm long and c. 2 mm wide"  (Sykes, 1970; p. 242).

"Habit: Annual; caespitose. Glands wart-like (on keel). Culms geniculately ascending; 6-60 cm long. Ligule a fringe of hairs. Leaf-blades 3-12 cm long; 1-5 mm wide. Leaf-blade margins glandular, or eglandular. Inflorescence a panicle. Panicle open; ovate; dense, or loose; 4-20 cm long. Panicle branches stiff; eglandular, or glandular. Spikelets solitary. Fertile spikelets pedicelled. Pedicels oblong; 1-3 mm long; eglandular, or glandular. Fertile spikelets: Spikelets comprising 6-16(-40) fertile florets; with diminished florets at the apex. Spikelets oblong; laterally compressed; 3-15 mm long; 1.3-2 mm wide; breaking up at maturity; rhachilla persistent; retaining paleas. Rhachilla internodes definite. Glumes deciduous; similar; shorter than spikelet. Lower glume ovate; 1-1.7 mm long; 1 times length of upper glume; eglandular, or glandular (on keel); 1-keeled; 1-3 -veined. Lower glume apex acute. Upper glume ovate; 1-1.7 mm long; 0.7-0.8 times length of adjacent fertile lemma; eglandular, or glandular; 1-keeled; 1-3 -veined. Upper glume apex acute. Florets: Fertile lemma ovate, or orbicular; 1.5-2 mm long; chartaceous; yellow, or grey, or purple; glandular on veins (keel); keeled; 3 -veined. Lemma lateral veins distinct. Lemma apex obtuse. Palea keels scabrous. Apical sterile florets resembling fertile though underdeveloped. Flower: Anthers 3; 0.3 mm long. Fruit: Caryopsis with adherent pericarp; oblong; 0.7-0.8 mm long; dark brown"  (GrassBase).

Habitat/ecology:  (no habitat/ecology info known by PIER)

Propagation:  Seed

Native range:  Southern Europe and western Asia (Sykes, 1970; p. 242)

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (US) Northern Mariana Islands	Rota Island	introduced	Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, Marie-Hélène/Oliver, Royce (1987) (p. 42)
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (US) Northern Mariana Islands	Saipan Island	introduced	Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, Marie-Hélène/Oliver, Royce (1987) (p. 42)
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (US) Northern Mariana Islands	Tinian Island	introduced	Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, Marie-Hélène/Oliver, Royce (1987) (p. 42)
Guam Guam Island	Guam Island	introduced	Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, Marie-Hélène/Oliver, Royce (1987) (p. 42)
Japan (offshore islands) Bonin (Ogasawara) Islands	Bonin (Ogasawara) Islands	introduced	Kato, Hidetoshi (2007)
Niue Niue	Niue Island	introduced invasive	Sykes, W. R. (1970) (p. 242) Weed in pasture trial. Present status unknown. Voucher cited: CHR 156827
United States (other Pacific offshore islands) Wake Islands	Wake Island	introduced	Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, Marie-Hélène/Oliver, Royce (1987) (p. 42)
United States (other Pacific offshore islands) Wake Islands	Wake Island	introduced invasive	Fosberg, F. R. (1955) (p. 4) Voucher cited: Fosberg 34458 (US)

Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Australia Australia (continental)	Australia (continental)		Hafliger, Ernst/Scholz, Hildemar (1980) (p. 71)
Chile (continental) Chile	Chile (Republic of)		Hafliger, Ernst/Scholz, Hildemar (1980) (p. 71)
China China	China (People's Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Indonesia Indonesia	Indonesia (Republic of)		Hafliger, Ernst/Scholz, Hildemar (1980) (p. 71)
Mexico Mexico	Mexico (United Mexican States)		Hafliger, Ernst/Scholz, Hildemar (1980) (p. 71)

Additional information:
Additional online information about Eragrostis minor is available from the Hawaiian Ecosystems at Risk project (HEAR).

Information about Eragrostis minor as a weed (worldwide references) may be available from the Global Compendium of Weeds (GCW).

Taxonomic information about Eragrostis minor may be available from the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN).

References:

Clayton, W.D./Harman, K.T./Williamson, H. 2011. World Grass Species: Descriptions, Identification, and Information Retrieval [GrassBase - The Online World Grass Flora]. The Board of Trustees, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

Fosberg, F. R. 1955. Northern Marshall Islands Expedition, 1951-1952. Land biota: vascular plants. Atoll Research Bulletin No. 39. Pacific Science Board, National Academy of Sciences, Washington. 22 pp.

Fosberg, F. R./Otobed, D./Sachet, M.-H./Oliver, R. L./Powell, D. A./Canfield, J. E. 1980. Vascular plants of Palau with vernacular names. Department of Botany, The Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. 43 pp.

Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, Marie-Hélène/Oliver, Royce. 1987. A geographical checklist of the Micronesian monocotyledonae. Micronesica 20:1-126.

Hafliger, Ernst/Scholz, Hildemar. 1980. Grass weeds, vol. 2. CIBA-GEIGY Ltd., Basle, Switzerland. 137 pp. + plates.

Kato, Hidetoshi. 2007. Herbarium records of Makino Herbarium, Tokyo Metropolitan University. Personal communication.

Sykes, W. R. 1970. Contributions to the flora of Niue. New Zealand Department of Scientific and Industrial Research Bulletin 200, Wellington. 321 pp.

U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. 2011. National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Online searchable database.

Zhengyi, Wu/Raven, Peter H./Deyuan, Hong. 2011. Flora of China (online resource).