''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
In Greek mythology, the name Chloris (; Greek Χλωρίς ''Chlōrís'', from χλωρός ''chlōrós'', meaning "greenish-yellow", "pale green", "pale", "pallid", or "fresh") appears in a variety of contexts. Some clearly refer to different ch ...
of Greek myth, a figure associated with flowers and spring.
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 ...
Ctenium
''Ctenium'' is a genus of African and Americas, American plants in the Poaceae, grass family.
; Species
; formerly included
see ''Dactyloctenium Enteropogon Tetrapogon''
* ''Ctenium digitatum - Enteropogon dolichostachyus''
* ''Ctenium indi ...
,
Cynodon
''Cynodon'', from Ancient Greek κύων (''kúōn''), meaning "dog", and ὀδούς (''odoús''), meaning "tooth", is a genus of plants in the grass family. It is native to warm temperate to tropical regions of the Old World, as well as bei ...
,
Dactyloctenium
''Dactyloctenium'' is a genus of Asian, African, and Australian plants in the Poaceae, grass family. There are about 13 species in the genus in the world, in which 3 are known to occur in India. A common name for the plants is crowfoot grasses.
...
Disakisperma
''Disakisperma'' is a genus of plants in the grass family, native to North and South America, Africa, and the Arabian Peninsula.
; Species
* '' Disakisperma dubium'' (Kunth) P.M.Peterson & N.Snow - Mexico, Honduras, South America (Bolivia, Brazi ...
,
Eleusine
''Eleusine'' is a genus of Asian, African, and South American plants in the grass family,Enteropogon
''Enteropogon'' is a genus of tropical and subtropical plants in the grass family. It is widespread across many parts of Asia, Africa, Australia, the Americas, and various islands.Eustachys,
Gymnopogon
''Gymnopogon'' (skeletongrass) is a genus of Americas, American and Southeast Asian plants in the Poaceae, grass family.
; Species
* ''Gymnopogon ambiguus'' (Michx.) Britton, Stern & Poggenb. - southeastern + south-central United States (New Mex ...