Eyelash Grass

Melica ciliata

''Melica ciliata'', the hairy melic or silky spike melic, is a species of perennial bunchgrass native to Europe, north Africa, and temperate Asia. It has been introduced to South Australia.
Silky spike melic - Melica ciliata  Bulgaria,Europe,Flowering Plant,Geotagged,Hairy melic,Magnoliophyta,Melica ciliata,Monocot,Plantae,Poaceae,Poales,Silky spike melic,Summer,West Balkan mountain range,Wildlife

Appearance

The species is tufted perennial with elongated rhizomes. It has erect culms which are 50–100 cm long. The leaf sheaths are tubular and closed; the ligule is an eciliate membrane. The leaf blades are flat, stiff, and 5–15 cm long by 1–3 mm wide. Their surface is scabrous and glabrous and the tip is attenuate. The panicle is contracted, reaching 20 cm in length. The spikelets are cuneate with one fertile floret. The florets are on pedicels.

Both the lower and upper glumes lack keels. They are membranous, ovate, 4–5 mm long, and 5-veined. The palea have 2-veined, ciliated keels while the fertile lemma is keelless, lanceolate, with an acute apex and ciliated margins. The lemma is 4.5–5 mm long with 7–9 veins. The flowers are fleshy, oblong, truncate, with two lodicules and three anthers. The fruits is a caryopsis.

Melica ciliata subsp. ciliata sl19.jpg|Spikelet

References:

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Taxonomy
KingdomPlantae
DivisionAngiosperms
ClassMonocots
OrderPoales
FamilyPoaceae
GenusMelica
SpeciesM. ciliata
Photographed in
Bulgaria