Oplismenus undulatifolius

Oplismenus undulatifolius (Ard.) Roem. & Schult., Syst. Veg. 2: 482 1817. (syn: Hippagrostis undulatifolia (Ard.) Kuntze; Oplismenus africanus var. capensis (Hochst.) Stapf; Oplismenus africanus var. simplex Stapf; Oplismenus capensis Hochst.; Oplismenus hirtellus subsp. undulatifolius (Ard.) U.Scholz; Oplismenus simplex K.Schum. [Invalid]; Oplismenus undulatifolius (Ard.) P. Beauv.; Oplismenus undulatifolius var. binatus S.L.Chen & Y.X.Jin; Oplismenus undulatifolius f. elongatus (Honda) Y.N.Lee; Oplismenus undulatifolius var. elongatus Honda; Oplismenus undulatifolius var. glaber S.L.Chen & Y.X.Jin; Oplismenus undulatifolius var. undulatifolius ; Orthopogon bolosii Vayr. [Invalid]; Orthopogon undulatifolius (Ard.) Spreng.; Orthopogon undulatus Link [Illegitimate]; Paniculum undulatifolium Ard.; Panicum burmannii Balb. [Invalid]; Panicum kraussii Steud. [Illegitimate]; Panicum undulatifolium Ard.);

SC. & S. Europe to Iran, Cameroon, Ethiopia to S. Africa, Madagascar, C. & S. China to Japan and Trop. Asia, E. Australia: Assam, Botswana, Cameroon, Cape Provinces, China North-Central, China South-Central, China Southeast, East Himalaya, Ethiopia, India, Iran, Italy, Japan, Jawa, Kenya, Korea, KwaZulu-Natal, Lesser Sunda Is., Madagascar, Malawi, Maluku, Mauritius, Mozambique, Nansei-shoto, Nepal, New Guinea, New South Wales, North Caucasus, Northern Provinces, Pakistan, Philippines, Queensland, Réunion, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sulawesi, Swaziland, Switzerland, Taiwan, Tanzania, Thailand, Transcaucasus, Turkey, West Himalaya, Yugoslavia, Zambia, Zaïre, Zimbabwe as per POWO;

Assam; Botswana; Cameroon; Cape Provinces; China North-Central; China South-Central; China Southeast; East Himalaya; Ethiopia; India; Iran; Italy; Japan; Jawa; Kenya; Korea; KwaZulu-Natal; Lesser Sunda Is.; Madagascar; Malawi; Maluku; Maryland; Mozambique; Nepal; New Guinea; New South Wales; North Caucasus; Northern Provinces; Pakistan; Philippines; Queensland; Spain; Sri Lanka; Sulawesi; Swaziland; Switzerland; Taiwan; Tanzania; Thailand; Transcaucasus; Turkey; Virginia; West Himalaya; Yugoslavia; Zambia; Zare; Zimbabwe as per Catalogue of Life;

Common name: Wavyleaf Basketgrass

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Annuals; culms 30-50 cm tall, creeping or trailing, lower nodes rooting. Leaves 5-15 x 0.5-0.8 cm, lanceolate, oblique at base, glabrous; sheath rounded; ligule membranous. Panicle 5-10 cm long; racemes short. Spikelets 4-6 mm long; lower glume 3 x 1 mm, 5-nerved; upper glume 2.5 mm long, 5-nerved, aristate or awned; first lemma 4 x 1.5 mm, aristate, epaleate; second lemma 3 x 1 mm, hyaline; palea similar, 2-nerved; ovary oblong; stigma plumose, pale yellow.

(Attributions- Dr. N Sasidharan (Dr. B P Pal Fellow), Kerala Forest Research Institute, Peechi from India Biodiversity Portal)

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Oplismenus undulatifolius submission : 10 posts by 4 authors. Attachments (6) – around 550 kb each.

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superb pics of what is shown. but i am greedy, i want to see your excellent pictures of the base of this plant, and ints entirety,  is that possible?

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Thanks … but I couldn’t manage to get entire base picture of plant because other larger herbs are covering it. But you can check for other two Oplismenus species whose leaves base are also very much similar as they are mostly distinguished by their inflorescence.

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i was not after whats on the net

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Yes it is Oplismenus undulatifolius. However, there is lot of variation and intermediate forms which shows that O.undulatifolius is a extreme variation of O.compositus where the branches of the panicle are highly reduced. There are populations where you get the extreme form together with other intermediate forms and also O.compositus. Probably, they are interbreeding naturally. However, the extreme form (O.undulatifolius) is found only in higher altitudes, may be some gene expression triggered at low temperatures only. Hence I prefer to call to Oplismenus compositus var. undulatifolius

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this is why habit and habitat documentation is important
see what … said above. and why i keep asking everybody for the habit and habitat pictures in these days of digital pics its only a matter of a few more seconds and does not cost price of film and processing. so please do it going forward.

 

 

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References:
POWO Catalogue of Life  The Plant List Ver.1.1  WCSP  Flora of China Flora of Pakistan  FOP illustration  Annotated checklist of Flowering plants of Nepal  Flowers of India  India Biodiversity Portal  Wikipedia  Encyclopedia of Life (Specimen)  GISD  RBG Kew: GrassBase  invasiveplantatlas