Blepharoneuron tricholepis

Hairy Dropseed

A wild patch of Hairy Dropseed

Field veiw of Hairy Dropseed

A rather messy spike-like panicle.

A spike-like inflorescence.

Especially in the autumn, Hairy Dropseed can have a red stem (culm).

The inflorescence usually opens to a somewhat messy panicle.

Some of these little oval spikelets are partly open.

The spikelets are compact and oval but their apices are often open as on the next photo.

On this spikelet you can see the two glumes at bottom and the opened lemma and palea above.

Micro view shows the hairy palea on left and hairy lemma to right.

The florets inside the opened glumes have hairs in four vertical rows along the veins (two shown here).

The roots of Blepharoneuron tricholepis

How to Identify Hairy Dropseed

  Blepharoneuron tricholepis is a perennial monsoon bloomer. Blepharoneuron means "Eyelash Vein" and the veins of the lemma and palea are hirsute, as you've seen. There are three veins on the lemma and one on the palea, each very hairy. Because of the way these stripes of hairs are oriented at right angles, if you look down on the tip of the floret you will see hairs protruding north, south, east, and west. This requires a hand lens but is diagnostic.
   It also helps to know that both the spike-like contracted form and the open form of the panicles look a little shabby, with light-colored bracts sticking out at odd angles. An open panicle shows conspicuously oval gray spikelets without awns.

Similar Species

  When in spike-like configuration, Hairy Dropseed panicles are a bit shiny in the sun, but less so than Junegrass (Koeleria macrantha).
  The small oval-appearing spikelets look superficially like the round ones of panic grasses like Switchgrass.