Gill 



BLACK DROPSEED 



Sporo'bolus interrup'tus 



Flower head (panicle) dark-colored, 

 narrow but loosely flowered, 4 to 7 in. 

 long, with short, slightly spreading 

 branches, free from the top leaf sheath 



Individual flower groups (spikelets) 

 about % in. long, 1-flowered, borne 

 toward ends of branches 



Outer flower bract (lemma) 1-veined, 

 lacking hairs at the base, sharp-pointed 



Inner flower bract (palea) similar to 

 lemma, but slightly notched at the tip 



Lowest (2) spikelet bracts (glumes) 

 thin, sharp-pointed, shorter than the 

 lemma and palea, unequal; 1st glume 

 % to K as long as 2d 



"Seed", or fruit free from the flower 

 bracts (lemma and palea), loosely en- 

 closed in the outer "seed" coat (pericarp) 



Stalks (culms) unbranched, solid, 1 to 

 2K ft. tall 



Leaves flat or folded, somewhat rigid, 

 mostly less than % the length of culm; 

 sheaths soft-hairy at the throat 



Roots: fibrous 



Black dropseed, also called black sporobolus because of its dark- 

 colored panicle, is an erect, densely tufted perennial with bright, 

 light green foliage. This species is limited in distribution to Ari- 

 zona and grows on thinly wooded areas, open parks and hillsides 

 chiefly in the ponderosa pine and upper woodland belt of the Colo- 

 rado Plateau south of Flagstaff, and in the White Mountains. 



