''Chloris'' is a widespread genus of monophyletic grasses belonging to the family
Poaceae
Poaceae ( ), also called Gramineae ( ), is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos, the grasses of natural grassland and species cultivate ...
, known generally as windmill grass or finger grass.
The genus is found worldwide, but especially in the tropical and subtropical regions, and more often in the Southern Hemisphere.
The species are variable in morphology, but in general, the plants are less than 0.5 m in height. They bear
inflorescence
In botany, an inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a plant's Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a system of branches. An inflorescence is categorized on the basis of the arrangement of flowers on a mai ...
s shaped like
umbel
UMBEL (Upper Mapping and Binding Exchange Layer) is a logically organized knowledge graph of 34,000 concepts and entity types that can be used in information science for relating information from disparate sources to one another. It was retired ...
s, with several plumes lined with rows of
spikelets. The genus is characterized by the series of sterile florets above the lowest fertile ones, spikes usually 4–10 in numbers (occasionally 1–2), approximated or in a slightly separated series of 10–20 spikes, rarely an indefinite numbers of terminal spikes (then usually up to 50 or rarely more, as seen in ''Chloris roxburghiana'' Schultes).
In India, 11 species are known to occur in which only two are endemic viz. ''Chloris wightiana'' Nees ex Steud. and ''Chloris bournei'' Rangachariar & Tadulingam.
The genus was named for
Chloris of Greek myth, a figure associated with flowers and spring.
Species
53 species are currently accepted.
[Biota of North America Program 2013 cocunty distribution maps]
/ref>
Formerly placed here
Some species formerly placed in genus ''Chloris'' are now placed in other genera, including '' Aegopogon, Austrochloris, Bouteloua
''Bouteloua'' is a genus of plants in the grass family Poaceae. Members of the genus are commonly known as grama grass.
Description
''Bouteloua'' includes both annual and perennial grasses, which frequently form stolons. Species have an inflo ...
, Chondrosum, Chrysochloa, Ctenium, Cynodon, Dactyloctenium, Daknopholis, Disakisperma, Eleusine, Enteropogon, Eustachys, Gymnopogon, Harpochloa, Leptochloa, Oxychloris, Pseudopogonatherum, Schoenefeldia, Schoenefeldiella, Tetrapogon'', and '' Trichloris''.[Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families]
/ref>
* '' Daknopholis boivinii'' (as ''Chloris boivinii'' )
* '' Schoenefeldiella transiens'' (as ''Chloris transiens'' )
* '' Stapfochloa elata'' (as ''Chloris elata'' ) – tall windmill grass
References
External links
Jepson Manual Treatment
USDA Plants Profile
Grass Manual Treatment
Poaceae genera
Grasses of North America
Taxa named by Olof Swartz
{{Chloridoideae-stub