Poaceae
Tripidium

Tripidium rufipilum (Steud.) Welker, Voronts. & E.A.Kellogg

First published in Phytotaxa 471: 297 (2020)
This species is accepted
The native range of this species is Pakistan to Central & S. China. It is a perennial and grows primarily in the temperate biome.

Descriptions

Morphology General Habit
Perennial; caespitose. Culms erect; robust; 200-350 cm long; woody. Culm-nodes glabrous, or bearded. Ligule an eciliate membrane. Leaf-blades flat, or convolute; 30-60 cm long; 3-20 mm wide; stiff. Leaf-blade apex attenuate; filiform.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences
Inflorescence a panicle with branches tipped by a raceme. Peduncle hirsute above. Panicle open; linear, or oblong; 15-40 cm long; 4-5 cm wide. Primary panicle branches simple. Panicle axis villous. Racemes 2.5-5 cm long. Rhachis fragile at the nodes; subterete; pilose on surface. Rhachis internodes linear. Spikelets in pairs. Fertile spikelets sessile and pedicelled; 2 in the cluster; subequal. Pedicels linear; ciliate.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences Spikelets
Spikelets comprising 1 basal sterile florets; 1 fertile florets; without rhachilla extension. Spikelets lanceolate; dorsally compressed; 2.5-3.5 mm long; falling entire; deciduous from the base, or with accessory branch structures. Spikelet callus bearded; base truncate. Spikelet callus hairs yellow, or red; 5-10 mm long; 2-3 length of spikelet.
Fertile
Spikelets comprising 1 basal sterile florets; 1 fertile florets; without rhachilla extension. Spikelets lanceolate; dorsally compressed; 2.5-3.5 mm long; falling entire; deciduous from the base, or with accessory branch structures. Spikelet callus bearded; base truncate. Spikelet callus hairs yellow, or red; 5-10 mm long; 2-3 length of spikelet.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences Bracts Glume
Glumes similar; firmer than fertile lemma. Lower glume lanceolate; 1 length of spikelet; membranous; much thinner above; pallid and red (at tip); 2-keeled. Lower glume surface flat; pilose. Lower glume margins ciliate. Lower glume apex acuminate. Upper glume lanceolate; 1 length of spikelet; membranous; much thinner above; without keels. Upper glume margins ciliate. Upper glume apex acute.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Florets
Basal sterile florets barren; without significant palea. Lemma of lower sterile floret lanceolate; hyaline; ciliate on margins; acute. Fertile lemma linear; hyaline. Lemma apex entire; awned; 1 -awned. Principal lemma awn apical; 10-20 mm long overall. Palea absent or minute.
Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers
Lodicules 2; cuneate; ciliate. Anthers 3.
Distribution
Asia-temperate: western Asia and China. Asia-tropical: India.
Reference
Andropogoneae. Fl Pak 1993.
[GB]

Extinction risk predictions for the world's flowering plants to support their conservation (2024). Bachman, S.P., Brown, M.J.M., Leão, T.C.C., Lughadha, E.N., Walker, B.E. https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/nph.19592

Conservation
Predicted extinction risk: not threatened. Confidence: confident
[AERP]

Sources

  • Angiosperm Extinction Risk Predictions v1

    • Angiosperm Threat Predictions
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0

  • GrassBase - The Online World Grass Flora

    • Clayton, W.D., Vorontsova, M.S., Harman, K.T. and Williamson, H. (2006 onwards). GrassBase - The Online World Grass Flora.
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • Herbarium Catalogue Specimens

    • 'The Herbarium Catalogue, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Published on the Internet http://www.kew.org/herbcat [accessed on Day Month Year]'. Please enter the date on which you consulted the system.
    • Digital Image © Board of Trustees, RBG Kew http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

  • Kew Backbone Distributions

    • The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants 2025. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and https://powo.science.kew.org/
    • © Copyright 2023 World Checklist of Vascular Plants. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

  • Kew Names and Taxonomic Backbone

    • The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants 2025. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and https://powo.science.kew.org/
    • © Copyright 2023 International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

  • Kew Science Photographs

    • Copyright applied to individual images