Growth form and inflorescence Typology in Bothriochloa (Poaceae:Panicoideae: Andropogoneae)

Abstract

Growth form and inflorescence typology of American species of Bothriochloa (Poaceae: Panicoideae: Andropogoneae) were studied. Plants of the genus Bothriochloa are perennial, with rhizomatose or stoloniform growth; the ramification is concentrated at the base of the plant or dispersed along the stem. All the species have truncate-polytelic inflorescences with variation in the number and the degree of paracladia ramification. Two basic types of inflorescences are described: a typical paniculodium, with long paracladia bearing paracladia of consecutive order (P'c; P'c and Pnc; or exceptionally P'c, P"c and P"'c) and a flabellate paniculodium with long proximal paracladia exceptionally branched (P'c).