''Triplasis'' is a genus of

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

n plants in the

grass family 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 cultivated in ...

. Sandgrass is a common name for plants in this genus. The genus name ''Triplasis'' is Greek, meaning " threefold", referring to the triple nerved

lemmas Lemma (from Ancient Greek ''premise'', ''assumption'', from Greek ''I take'', ''I get'') may refer to: Language and linguistics * Lemma (morphology), the canonical, dictionary or citation form of a word * Lemma (psycholinguistics), a mental a ...

Description

The plants are slender-tufted perennials or annuals with short, slender leaf blades. Their short and open purplish

panicles In botany, a panicle is a much-branched inflorescence. (softcover ). Some authors distinguish it from a compound spike inflorescence, by requiring that the flowers (and fruit) be pedicellate (having a single stem per flower). The branches of a p ...

have few flowers and terminate the culms.

Axil A leaf (: leaves) is a principal appendage of the stem of a vascular plant, usually borne laterally above ground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, stem, fl ...

s of the leaves can bear narrow and

cleistogamous Cleistogamy is a type of automatic self-pollination of certain plants that can propagate by using non-opening, self-pollinating flowers. Especially well known in peanuts, peas, and pansies, this behavior is most widespread in the grass family. H ...

panicles. Species of the genus have few-flowered

spikelet A spikelet, in botany, describes the typical arrangement of the inflorescences of grasses, sedges and some other monocots. Each spikelet has one or more florets. The spikelets are further grouped into panicles or spikes. The part of the sp ...

s and remote

floret This glossary of botanical terms is a list of definitions of terms and concepts relevant to botany and plants in general. Terms of plant morphology are included here as well as at the more specific Glossary of plant morphology and Glossary ...

s. The slender rachillas are

terete Terete is a term in botany used to describe a cross section (geometry), cross section that is circular, or like a distorted circle, with a single surface wrapping around it.Lichen Vocabulary, Lichens of North America Information, Sylvia and S ...

and disarticulate above the

glume In botany, a glume is a bract (leaf-like structure) below a spikelet in the inflorescence (flower cluster) of grass Poaceae ( ), also called Gramineae ( ), is a large and nearly ubiquitous family (biology), family of monocotyledonous flow ...

s and between the florets. The narrow lemmas have three nerves and two lobes.

Species

The genus ''Triplasis'' includes: * '' Triplasis americana'' P.Beauv. * '' Triplasis purpurea'' (Walter) Chapm. The genus formerly included: * ''Triplasis setacea - Tripogon spicatus''

References

Chloridoideae Poaceae genera Grasses of North America Grasses of the United States Taxa named by Palisot de Beauvois {{Chloridoideae-stub