Brachypodium

Brachypodium is a genus of herbaceous plants belonging to the Poaceae family. Its distribution is very wide, appearing in Africa, Asia —Siberia, Indochina, Malaysia and Papua—, America —areas of the Caribbean, the pampas, and Andean— and Europe.

Description

They are perennial (Mesoamerica) or annual, cespitose or rhizomatous plants. Branched or simple stems. Ligule a membrane; linear, flattened or folded sheets. Inflorescence a bilateral, terminal raceme, with few erect spikelets, short pedicellate. Spikelets solitary, cylindrical to laterally compressed, with 5-20 bisexual florets, the uppermost often sterile; disarticulation above glumes and between florets; glumes and lemmas rounded on back; glumes 2, unequal, shorter than lower lemma, herbaceous, 3-9 veined, blunt or briefly awned; lemmas herbaceous or coriaceous, 7-9-veined, usually awned; palea as long as the lemma or somewhat shorter, 2-carineate, the keels ciliate-pectinate or scabrous; lodicules 2, ciliate; stamens 3; ovary hairy at apex; styles 2. Fruit a sulcate caryopsis; linear thread; embryo 1/6-1/5 as long as caryopsis.

Taxonomy

The genus was described by Ambroise Marie François Joseph Palisot de Beauvois and published in Essai d'une Nouvelle Agrostographie 100, 15, pl. 19, f. 35. 1812. The type species is: Brachypodium pinnatum (L.) Beauv.

Cytology

The basic chromosome number of the genus is x = 5, 7, 9 and 10, with somatic chromosome numbers of 2n = 10, 14, 16, 18, 28, 30, 42 and 56, since there are diploid species and a polyploid (and aneuploid) series. Relatively "small" chromosomes.

Etymology

The name of this genus derives from the Greek brachys (short) and podion (little foot), in reference to the subsessile spikelets.

Species

• Brachypodium distachyon (L.) Beauv.
• Brachypodium longiseta Hitchc.
• Brachypodium mexicanum Link var.
• Brachypodium phoenicoides (L.) Roemer et Schultes
• Brachypodium pinnatum (L.) Beauv.
• Brachypodium pringlei Scribn.
• Brachypodium pubifolium Hitchc.
• Brachypodium summary (Pers.) Beauv.
• Brachypodium sylvaticum (L.) (Hudson) Beauv.