Briza

Large Quaking Grass ( Briza maxima)

Quaking Grass ( Briza ) are one to Central Asia and in Central and South America, occurring from Europe genus of the family Gramineae ( Poaceae ).

Description

In quaking grass species are annual or perennial herbaceous plants. They usually form clumps different size and dry off after flowering. The leaf blades are flat and linear to broadly linear.

In open paniculate inflorescences are on slender stalks the spikelets. Characteristic are the ovoid to round, often at the base heart-shaped, laterally flattened to spherical spikelets. They consist of several to many flowers. Since they are of relatively thin stems, they often hang down and tremble at the slightest wind movement. This has earned her name of the genus. In many species, the inflorescences are so decorative that they are cultivated as ornamentals.

The envelope and lemmas are from horizontal. The three - to five annoying and wide edged glumes are much shorter than the spikelets and narrow ovate to roundish. The roundish to ovate, usually rounded at the top and at the bottom often heart-shaped lemmas overlap closely. They are five to elfnervig and usually clearly hollow, often slightly keeled. The palea are slightly smaller than the lemmas and lanceolate to roundish. Her keel is slightly winged.

Types (selection)

There are about 21 species of Briza (selection):

• Briza humilis M. Bieb. , Occurs in southeastern Europe.
• Large Quaking Grass ( Briza maxima L.); Home: Azores, Southern Europe, Turkey; naturalized in Russia, Great Britain, North America, Japan and Australia.
• Ordinary quaking grass ( Briza media L.); Home: Europe, Turkey, Caucasus.
• Little Quaking Grass ( Briza minor L. ); Home: Southern Europe, British Isles, Southwest Asia.

Documents

• Sheng - lian Lu, Sylvia M. Phillips: Briza. In: Wu Zheng -yi, Peter H. Raven, Deyuan Hong (eds.): Flora of China. Volume 22: Poaceae, Science Press / Missouri Botanical Garden Press, Beijing / St. Louis 2006, ISBN 1-930723-50-4, p 256, PDF file online.
• Walter Erhardt, Erich Götz, Nils Boedeker, Siegmund Seybold: The big walleye. Encyclopedia of plant names. Volume 2 species and varieties. Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart 2008, ISBN 978-3-8001-5406-7.
• Hans Joachim Conert: Briza. In: Hans Joachim Conert (ed.): Illustrated Flora of Central Europe. Founded by Gustav Hegi. Third, completely revised edition. Volume I. Part 3: Spermatophyta: Angiospermae: Monocotyledones 1 (2). Poaceae (true grasses or grasses ), Parey Verlag, Berlin 1979-1998, ISBN 3- 8263-2868 -X, pp. 504-508 ( 7 delivery, 1994).
• Thomas Gaskell Tutin: Briza L. In: TG Tutin, VH Heywood, NA Burges, DM Moore, DH Valentine, SM Walters, DA Webb ( eds.): Flora Europaea. Volume 5: Alismataceae to Orchidaceae ( Monocotyledones ), Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1980, ISBN 0 - 521-20108 -X, page 173 ( limited preview on Google Book Search ).