Milium effusum
| Milium effusum | |
|---|---|
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Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Monocots |
| Clade: | Commelinids |
| Order: | Poales |
| Family: | Poaceae |
| Subfamily: | Pooideae |
| Genus: | Milium |
| Species: | M. effusum |
| Binomial name | |
| Milium effusum | |
| Synonyms[1] | |
|
List
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Milium effusum, the American milletgrass or wood millet, is a species of flowering plant in the grass family Poaceae, native to damp forests of the Holarctic Kingdom.
The Latin specific epithet effusum means "spreading loosely".[2]
Description
[edit]M. effusum is a shortly rhizomatous,[3] nemoral-mesic[4][5] grass with an open panicle. The spikelets are about 2.5-5mm long, pedicellate, with no awn on the glume(s) or lemma, and only one fertile floret. The leaves are approximately 5-17mm wide and hairless. The ligule is roughly 3-10mm and membranous.[6][7] The plant is rare in its southernmost range, as a secure species only in Ontario, Novia Scotia, and New Brunswick, ranging in vulnerability outside of its secure area in its natural range.
Habitat
[edit]Milium effusum inhabits damp, deciduous woods and shaded banks, where it grows on winter-wet, calcareous to mildly acidic clay and loam soils, and also over rocks in western Scotland.[8]
Distribution
[edit]It can be found in the northern United States and Canada,[9] and Europe, including Britain but excluding the Mediterranean, east to Siberia and the Himalayas.[10]
Cultivation
[edit]The yellow-leaved cultivar 'Aureum', known as Bowles' golden grass, is cultivated as an ornamental garden plant, and in the UK has won the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.[11][12]
Gallery
[edit]
References
[edit]- ↑ "The Plant List: A Working List of All Plant Species". Retrieved March 18, 2014.
- ↑ Harrison, Lorraine (2012). RHS Latin for Gardeners. United Kingdom: Mitchell Beazley. ISBN 978-1845337315.
- ↑ "Milium effusum in Chinese Plant Names @ efloras.org". efloras.org. Archived from the original on 2024-10-09. Retrieved 2026-09-09.
- ↑ "Michigan Natural Features Inventory". mnfi.anr.msu.edu. Retrieved 2026-09-09.
- ↑ Смирнова, Ольга; Kalyakin, V.; Turubanova, Svetlana; Bobrovsky, Maxim; Khanina, Larisa (2017-01-01), Development of the European Russian Forests in the Holocene, pp. 515–536, doi:10.1007/978-94-024-1172-0_8, ISBN 978-94-024-1171-3, retrieved 2026-09-09
- ↑ "Milium effusum (millet grass): Go Botany". gobotany.nativeplanttrust.org. Retrieved 2026-09-09.
- ↑ "Milium effusum (Wood Millet): Minnesota Wildflowers". www.minnesotawildflowers.info. Retrieved 2026-09-09.
- ↑ "Online Atlas of the British & Irish Flora".
- ↑ "Milium effusum". United States Department of Agriculture. 2009. Retrieved March 29, 2013.
- ↑ "Plants for a Future".
- ↑ "RHS Plantfinder - Milium effusum 'Aureum'". Retrieved 4 April 2018.
- ↑ "AGM Plants - Ornamental" (PDF). Royal Horticultural Society. July 2017. p. 64. Retrieved 4 April 2018.
Further reading
[edit]- P. de Frenne et al. Biological Flora of the British Isles: Milium effusum, Journal of Ecology, 2017, DOI: 10.1111/1365-2745.12744. Detailed overview of all aspects relevant to ecology and behaviour.
