Lygeum

albardine
esparto grass
Lygeum spartum
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Monocots
(unranked): Commelinids
Order: Poales
Family: Poaceae
Subfamily: Pooideae
Tribe: Lygeeae
J. Presl (1846)
Genus: Lygeum
Loefl. ex L.
Species: L. spartum
Binomial name
Lygeum spartum
Loefl. ex L.
Synonyms[1]
  • Linosparton Adans.
  • Sparthum Plin. ex P. Beauv. as synonym[2]
  • Spartum Plin. ex P. Beauv., alternate spelling[3]
  • Lygeum tenax Salisb.
  • Lygeum spathaceum Lam.
  • Lygeum apiculatum Gand.
  • Lygeum insulare Gand.
  • Lygeum loscosii Gand.
  • Lygeum murcicum Gand.
  • Lygeum spartum f. longispathum Trab.
Lygeum spartum
MHNT

Lygeum is a genus of Mediterranean plants in the grass family.[4][5] It is placed in its own tribe Lygeeae, which is sister to Nardeae.[6]

The only known species is Lygeum spartum, commonly called esparto grass[1][7] or albardine.[8] It is native to southern Europe and North Africa, where its distribution includes Crete, Italy, Spain, Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, and Tunisia.[8][9] It is similar to Stipa tenacissima[10] and both species are used to produce a fiber product known as esparto or esparto grass.[11]

Description

Lygeum spartum is a rhizomatous perennial grass growing up to 75 centimeters tall.[12] The rhizome and the base of the stem are scaly.[13] The leaves are threadlike but stiff[12] and tough, measuring up to 50 centimeters long.[13] The inflorescence is made up of a few long-haired spikelets each up to 4.5 centimeters long. They are wrapped in a lance-shaped bract called a spatheole.[12] This sheath is 3 to 9 centimeters long and can have a sharp point.[13]

References

  1. 1 2 Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
  2. ↑ Palisot de Beauvois, Ambroise Marie François Joseph. 1812. Essai d'une Nouvelle Agrostographie 140
  3. ↑ Tropicos, Spartum P. Beauv.
  4. ↑ Linnaeus, Carl von. 1754. Genera Plantarum, ed. 5 27, (522).
  5. ↑ Abdeddaim-Boughanmi, K. and M. Kaid-Harche. (2009). Structure, ultrastructure of the anther, pollen microsporogenesis and morphology of pollen grains of two populations of Lygeum spartum L. in Algeria. American Journal of Agricultural and Biological Sciences 4(3), 201-05.
  6. ↑ Soreng, Robert J.; Peterson, Paul M.; Romschenko, Konstantin; Davidse, Gerrit; Zuloaga, Fernando O.; Judziewicz, Emmet J.; Filgueiras, Tarciso S.; Davis, Jerrold I.; Morrone, Osvaldo (2015). "A worldwide phylogenetic classification of the Poaceae (Gramineae)". Journal of Systematics and Evolution 53 (2): 117–137. doi:10.1111/jse.12150. ISSN 1674-4918.
  7. ↑ Altervista Flora Italiana, genere Lygeum, Sparto steppico, Esparto Grass
  8. 1 2 Lygeum spartum. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN).
  9. ↑ Lygeum spartum. Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS).
  10. ↑ Garcı́a-Fuentes, A., et al. (2001). Review of communities of Lygeum spartum L. in the south-eastern Iberian Peninsula (western Mediterranean). Journal of Arid Environments 48(3), 323-39.
  11. ↑ Watson, L. and M. J. Dallwitz. 1992 onwards. Lygeum. The Grass Genera of the World. DELTA – DEscription Language for TAxonomy. Version: 18 December 2012.
  12. 1 2 3 Clayton, W. D., et al. (2006 onwards). Lygeum. GrassBase - The Online World Grass Flora.
  13. 1 2 3 Lygeum spartum. Flora of Pakistan.


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