Melica

Melica
Melica ciliata
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Clade: Commelinids
Order: Poales
Family: Poaceae
Subfamily: Pooideae
Supertribe: Melicodae
Tribe: Meliceae
Genus: Melica
L.
Species

See text

Melica is a genus of perennial grasses known generally as melic or melic grass. They are found in most temperate regions of the world.[1]

Melica uniflora spikelet
Corm of Melica spectabilis, purple oniongrass
Melica altissima 'Atropurpurea' cultivar
Melica picta in situ

Melic grasses are clumping to short-rhizomatous grasses. They have flowering culms up to 250 cm (98 in) tall bearing spikelets of papery flowers. The spikelets have between one and seven fertile flowers with a rudimentary structure at the distal end composed of one to four sterile florets.[1] Some species of melic have corms, lending them the name oniongrass.[2]

The genus is most diverse in South America and temperate Asia.[3] Eight species are endemic to China.[4] In North America, most species occur west of the Mississippi River, with exceptions being Melica mutica and M. nitens which occur throughout much of the southeast and lower Midwest respectively.[1][5]

  1. ^ a b c Herbarium.usu.edu: Genus Melica treatment
  2. ^ Jepson Manual eFlora: Melica links
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference powo was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Wu, Zhen-lan; Sylvia M. Phillips. "Melica". Flora of China. Vol. 22. Retrieved 9 December 2018 – via eFloras.org, Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, MO & Harvard University Herbaria, Cambridge, MA.
  5. ^ "Melica 2013 BONAP North American Plant Atlas". bonap.net. The Biota of North America Program. Retrieved 9 December 2018.