Poaceae

C. aquatica (L.) P. Beauv., Ess. Agrost. 91 (1812). Syn: Aira aquatica L., Sp. Pl. 64 (1753). Ic: Hubbard, Grasses ed. 2:222 (1968); Fl. Iraq 9: t. 18 (1968).
Perennial with stout creeping rhizome. Stems (13-)16-70(-120) cm, glabrous, smooth. Leaf sheaths tubular. Ligule(2-)3-7(-9)mm. Leaf blades acute or obtuse, flat, (9-)25-160(-260) X (0.5-)1.5-8.5(-12.5) mm. Panicle (5-)7-23 (-26) x (1.5-)2-8(-9) cm, usually lax and open when mature, sometimes rather narrow. Spikelets small, (l-)2(-3)-flowered, (1.8-)2-4(-4.5) mm, greenish, yellowish-brown or brownish-violet. Glumes hyaline; lower (0.5-)0.7-1.8(-2) mm, suborbicular; upper (l.l-)1.2-2.5(-3) mm, broadly elliptic with shallowly tri-dentate apex. Lemma (1.8-)2-3.2(-3.3) mm, glabrous or with short hairs in lower half. Palea(1.6-)1.7-2.9(-3.2)mm. Anthers 1.1-2.2 mm. Fl.5-8. Marshes, water meadows, ditches, streams, pools and other damp places, nr s.l.-2600 m.
Described from Europe (Hb. Linn. 85/6, photo!).
Widespread, but rare in S.W. Anatolia; apparently absent from Islands. A1(E) Çanakkale: 16 km W. of Şarköy, 100 m, Sorger 77-2-3! A2(E) Istanbul: Küçükçekmece, 27 v 1894, Azn.! A2(A) Istanbul: Maltepe, 2 v 1897, Azn.! A4 Çankiri: nr Candir, D. 21436! A5 Çorum: 10 km E. of Jardine 363b!* A6 Sivas: 3 km from Özen Köyü to Doğanşar, 1400-1500 m, D. 68850! A7 Ordu: Çambaşi, at Saz Ova, 2300 m, Tobey 1448! A8 Gümüşane: 23 km N. of Aşkale towards Trabzon, 2390 m, Uotila 19646! A9 Kars: Susuz, 1750 m, D.30634! Bl Izmir: Karlik to Manisa Da., 900 m, Bocquet 2083! B2Manisa: Simav to Demirci, S. of Akçakertik pass, 1300 m, Coode & Jones 2757k B3 Eskişehir: Türkmen Da., Bayat Köyü, 1400 m, Ekim 2253! B4 Ankara: Ankara to Polatlı, Kasapligil 413! B5 Yozgat: 20 km N. of Himmetdede, 1200m, Coode & Jones 1475a! B6 Sivas: 35 km from Gürün to Pinarbaşi, 1700m,Stn. & Hend. 5713! B8 Erzurum: 5 km N. of Erzurum, 1920 m, Holtz 00.918 et al.! B9 Ağri: Balik G., 2210 m, A. Baytop (ISTE 42735)! B10 Van: 5 km N.E. of Başkale, 2150 m, D. 45866! C2 Denizli: E. of Pamukkale, 400 m, Sorger 67-40-12! C3 Antalya: 25 km N. of Antalya, Jalas 3471!* C5 Adana: Ceyhan to Osmaniye, 500 m, D. 26709!* C6 Hatay: l0 km from Toprakkale, Jones 67ü* C7 Urfa: E. of Hilvan, 650 m, D. 28265!* C8 Mardin: 24 km from Mardin to Diyarbakır, 1000 m, D. 8700!* C10 Hakkari: Gevar Ovasi 2-5 km from Yüksekova, 1950 m, D. 45771!
Temperate Eurasia, N. America. A polymorphic species over its vast range, here treated in a broad sense. Plants with short greenish spikelets, usually 2-3 mm and with hairy lemmas, have been separated as subsp. pseudairoides (Herrm.) Tzvelev in Novit. Syst. Pl. Vasc. (Leningrad) 1968:29 (1968) (= C. pseudairoides (Herrm.) Tzvelev in Bot. Zhurn. 50:1633, 1965). In Turkey this variant is mainly restricted to S. Anatolia; examples are marked with an asterisk in the citations above. It also occurs in Syria, Palestine, Iran, Iraq and C. Asia but, in Turkey, intergrades with subsp. aquatica. Another rather distinctive variant occurs in E. Anatolia and adjacent Transcaucasia; this has large brownish spikelets, usually 3.5-4.5 mm, with narrow, rather lanceolate lemmas which are slightly hairy in the lower half. Examples include D. 30634 from A9 Kars; D.. 44005 from B9 Ağri (Taşliçay to Diyadin, 1850 m!); D. 45866 from B10 Van; and D. 45771 from C10 Hakkari. Typical C. aquatica, with large lax panicles and spikelets with glabrous lemmas, is scattered in Anatolia, mainly in the N. & W.