Trisetum

Trisetum spicatum, photographed by Børge Larsen.

Belongs within: Poaceae.

Trisetum is a genus of about seventy species of grasses found in temperate parts of the world.

Characters (from Flora of China): Perennials, tufted, sometimes shortly rhizomatous. Leaf blades narrowly to broadly linear, usually flat; ligule membranous. Inflorescence a moderately lax to spikelike panicle, shining. Spikelets with 2 or 3 florets, disarticulating below each floret; rachilla shortly bearded, extended beyond uppermost floret, tipped by a reduced or vestigial floret; glumes lanceolate, unequal or subequal, shorter than spikelet, keeled, herbaceous or membranous, margins broad, hyaline, lower glume 1(–3)-veined, upper glume 3-veined, apex acute or acuminate; floret callus glabrous or shortly bearded; lemmas lanceolate, laterally compressed, membranous to thinly leathery, 5-veined, glabrous, awned from above middle of back, apex 2-toothed, teeth often aristulate; awn geniculate with twisted column or merely outwardly curved; palea hyaline, slightly to distinctly shorter than lemma, gaping free from lemma margins. Ovary glabrous or almost so. Caryopsis with punctiform hilum; endosperm sometimes liquid.

<==Trisetum
    |--T. aeneum O88
    |--T. antarcticum W91
    |    |--T. a. ssp. antarcticum W91
    |    `--T. a. ssp. tenellum W91
    |--T. saxeticolum Cockayne & Allan 1927 CA27
    |--T. scitulum O88
    |--T. spicatum O88
    |    |--T. s. ssp. spicatum O88
    |    `--T. s. ssp. himalaicum O88
    |--T. subspicatum CA27 [=Avena subspicata C55]
    |    |--T. s. var. subspicatum D03
    |    `--T. s. var. glabrifolium D03
    `--T. youngii W91

*Type species of generic name indicated

REFERENCES

[C55] Candolle, A. de. 1855. Géographie Botanique Raisonée: Ou exposition des faits principaux et des lois concernant la distribution géographique des plantes de l’époque actuelle vol. 1. Librairie de Victor Masson: Paris.

[CA27] Cockayne, L., & H. H. Allan. 1927. Notes on New Zealand floristic botany, including descriptions of new species, &c. (No. 5). Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute 57: 48-72.

[D03] Dusén, P. 1903. The vegetation of western Patagonia. In Reports of the Princeton University Expeditions to Patagonia, 1896-1899, vol. 8 – Botany (W. B. Scott, ed.) pp. 1-34. The University: Princeton (New Jersey).

[O88] Ohba, H. 1988. The alpine flora of the Nepal Himalayas: An introductory note. In The Himalayan Plants vol. 1 (H. Ohba & S. B. Malla, eds) The University Museum, University of Tokyo, Bulletin 31: 19-46.

[W91] Williams, P. A. 1991. Subalpine and alpine vegetation of granite ranges in western Nelson, New Zealand. New Zealand Journal of Botany 29: 317-330.