Family:
Poaceae Barnhart
Genus:
Cymbopogon Spreng.

Cymbopogon ambiguus (Hack.) A.Camus

This species is accepted, and its native range is Lesser Sunda Islands (Timor) to Australia.

[GB]
Morphology General Habit
Perennial; caespitose. Butt sheaths pubescent. Basal innovations extravaginal. Culms erect; 55-60 cm long. Culm-internodes distally glabrous, or pubescent. Leaf-sheaths glabrous on surface. Leaf-sheath auricles absent, or erect. Ligule an eciliate membrane; 1.9-9 mm long; membranous. Leaf-blades filiform, or linear; 20-35 cm long; 1-2 mm wide; aromatic. Leaf-blade surface scabrous; glabrous. Leaf-blade apex attenuate.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences
Synflorescence compound; linear, or paniculate; 10-20 cm long; dense. Inflorescence composed of racemes; terminal and axillary; subtended by a spatheole; enclosed. Spatheole elliptic; 4-9 cm long; chartaceous; glabrous. Racemes 2; paired; erect; 1.5-2 cm long. Rhachis fragile at the nodes; semiterete; villous on surface. Rhachis internodes linear. Rhachis internode tip transverse; cupuliform. Raceme-bases flattened; subequal. Spikelets in pairs. Fertile spikelets sessile; 1 in the cluster. Companion sterile spikelets pedicelled; 1 in the cluster. Pedicels linear; semiterete; villous.
Sterile
Basal sterile spikelets absent. Companion sterile spikelets well-developed; comprising 2 subequal glumes without lemmas; linear; 3-4 mm long; shorter than fertile; deciduous with the fertile. Companion sterile spikelet glumes chartaceous; 7 -veined; glabrous; acute; muticous.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences Spikelets
Spikelets comprising 1 basal sterile florets; 1 fertile florets; without rhachilla extension. Spikelets lanceolate, or ovate; dorsally compressed; 5.5-6.5 mm long; falling entire; deciduous with accessory branch structures. Spikelet callus base obtuse; inserted. Basal sterile spikelets absent. Companion sterile spikelets well-developed; comprising 2 subequal glumes without lemmas; linear; 3-4 mm long; shorter than fertile; deciduous with the fertile. Companion sterile spikelet glumes chartaceous; 7 -veined; glabrous; acute; muticous.
Fertile
Spikelets comprising 1 basal sterile florets; 1 fertile florets; without rhachilla extension. Spikelets lanceolate, or ovate; dorsally compressed; 5.5-6.5 mm long; falling entire; deciduous with accessory branch structures. Spikelet callus base obtuse; inserted.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences Bracts Glume
Glumes dissimilar; exceeding apex of florets; firmer than fertile lemma. Lower glume lanceolate, or ovate; 1 length of spikelet; chartaceous; 2-keeled; keeled all along; keeled laterally; winged on keel; winged narrowly. Lower glume intercarinal veins distinct; 3-4 in number. Lower glume surface flat, or concave; impressed below. Lower glume apex acuminate. Upper glume lanceolate; 1-keeled. Upper glume apex acute.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Florets
Basal sterile florets barren; without significant palea. Lemma of lower sterile floret hyaline. Fertile lemma lanceolate; hyaline; without keel. Lemma apex lobed; 2 -fid; awned; 1 -awned. Principal lemma awn from a sinus; geniculate; 15 mm long overall; with twisted column. Column of lemma awn glabrous. Palea absent or minute.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers
Anthers 3.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
Caryopsis with adherent pericarp; oblanceolate; isodiametric; 2 mm long.
Distribution
Australasia: Australia.
Reference
Andropogoneae. Soenarko 1993.

Native to:

Lesser Sunda Is., New South Wales, Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia

Cymbopogon ambiguus (Hack.) A.Camus appears in other Kew resources:

First published in Rev. Bot. Appl. Agric. Colon. 1: 290 (1921)

Accepted by

  • Clayton, W.D., Harman, K.T. & Williamson, H. (2006). World Grass Species - Synonymy database The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

  • GrassBase - The Online World Grass Flora

    http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • Kew Backbone Distributions

    The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Selected Plant Families 2022. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/
    © Copyright 2017 World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

  • Kew Names and Taxonomic Backbone

    The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Selected Plant Families 2022. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/
    © Copyright 2017 International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0