2. Diarrhena obovata (Gleason) Brandenburg (American beakgrain)

Pl. 144 g, h; Map 583

D. americana var. obovata Gleason

Leaf sheaths usually (but not always) glabrous. Inflorescences roughened but otherwise glabrous. Spikelets 7–17 mm long. Lower glume 1.5–2.8 mm long. Upper glume 2.5–4.5 mm long. Lemmas 5–7 mm long, elliptic‑obovate, rounded abruptly at the tip and short‑awned, the base glabrous. Anthers 1.5–2.0 mm long. Fruits 4.6–5.8 mm long, 1.8–2.5 mm wide at maturity, narrowly lanceolate in outline, narrowed abruptly to a more or less pointed beak with a narrowly but deeply notched tip. 2n=60. June–September.

Scattered nearly throughout Missouri, but mostly absent from the Mississippi Lowlands Division (Pennsylvania to South Dakota south to Tennessee and Texas). Mesic upland forests, mostly in ravines and valleys, banks of streams, bases and ledges of moist bluffs, often on calcareous substrates.