Melica nitens
{{Short description|Species of grass}}
{{Speciesbox
|image = Melica nitens.jpg
|status = G5
|status_system = TNC
|genus = Melica
|species = nitens
|authority = (Scribn.) Nutt. ex Piper
| synonyms ={{Collapsible list|
- Melica diffusa var. nitens Scribn.
- Melica scabra Nutt.
}}}}
Melica nitens is a species of grass known by the common names threeflower melicgrass or three-flowered melic. It is native to the central United States.[http://herbarium.usu.edu/webmanual/info2.asp?name=Melica_nitens&type=treatment Melica nitens.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150703045326/http://herbarium.usu.edu/webmanual/info2.asp?name=Melica_nitens&type=treatment |date=2015-07-03 }} Grass Manual Treatment.[http://www.natureserve.org/explorer/servlet/NatureServe?searchName=Melica+nitens Melica nitens.] NatureServe.
Description
This perennial grass has short rhizomes and sometimes forms bunches. The stems grow up to 1.3 meters tall. The inflorescence is a branching panicle of spikelets. The spikelets normally have three perfect flowers in one sided panicles.{{cite book|author1=Barbara Coffin|author2=Lee Pfannmuller|title=Minnesota's Endangered Flora and Fauna|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wfWNq91AjeoC|year=1988|publisher=U of Minnesota Press|isbn=978-0-8166-1689-3|page=113}} Despite its name, the grass may also have spikelets with two or four flowers each, often two.[https://plants.usda.gov/factsheet/pdf/fs_meni.pdf Melica nitens.] USDA NRCS Plant Fact Sheet. The rachilla is longer than the fertile florets, and terminates in a club. The sterile florets are two empty lemmas.
Habitat
In the wild this plant grows in wooded areas, grasslands, streambanks, and roadsides. In some areas it is considered "highly threatened by land-use conversion and habitat fragmentation, and to a lesser extent by forest management practices." In other areas it is cultivated and sown as a forage grass. In the US state of Minnesota, where it reaches its most northerly range in the extreme south eastern part of the state, it is listed as a threatened species; it was historically found in sandy soiled woodlands and prairie. In Wisconsin it is listed as a Special Concern plant, and is found on steep slopes or rocky embankments around the states southern floodplains, mesic forests, and dry prairies.{{Cite web|title=Three-flowered Melic Grass (Melica nitens) - Wisconsin DNR|url=https://dnr.wi.gov/topic/EndangeredResources/Plants.asp?mode=detail&SpecCode=PMPOA3X0D0|access-date=2021-12-30|website=dnr.wi.gov}}