Poaceae and Polygonaceae

Plant Photo	Scientific Name	Common Name and Description	Seed Photo
	Avena sativa	Common Name: Oats, Wild Oats, Oatgrass Leaves: Short awns and hairy lemmas Flowers: Spikelets slightly laterally compressed with 2 perfect florets Fruit: Grain Habitat: Disturbed areas Range: East, southeast and north-central Texas, also the Edwards Plateau; North America Group: Monocot Family: Poaceae Growth Habit: Graminoid - tufted, culms 40-75 mm long, panicles open and diffuse 15-25 cm long and 3-10 cm broad Duration: Annual U.S. Nativity: Introduced
	Zea diploperennis	Common Name: Teosinte or Diploperennial Teosinte Leaves: Broad flat leaves Flowers: Both pistillate and staminate spikelets borne on the same plant Fruit: Grain Habitat: Range: In very limited regions of highlands of Western Mexico Group: Monocot Family: Poaceae Growth Habit: Graminoid Duration: Perennial U.S. Nativity: Introduced
	Zea mays	Common Name: Indian Corn Leaves: Broad flat leaves Flowers: Pistillate spikelets borne in several rows on a much-thickened cylindrical rachis (cob), the whole inflorescence covered with usually modified leaves (shucks) and the entire "ear" marked at the end by the termini of elongated styles (silk); Staminate spikelets borne in pairs on the spike-like racemes at the top of the plant Fruit: Grain Habitat: Incapable of survival outside of cultivation Range: Texas, and much of the United States Group: Monocot Family: Poaceae Growth Habit: Graminoid - Robust annual Duration: Perennial U.S. Nativity: Introduced
	Fagopyrum esculentum	Common Name: Buckwheat Leaves: Flowers: Fruit: Habitat: Range: Group: Dicot Family: Polygonaceae Growth Habit: Forb/Herb Duration: Annual U.S. Nativity: Introduced
	Rumex occidentalis	Common Name: Dock Leaves: Alternate, flat undulate or crisped, narrowed to cordate or auricled at base Flowers: Greenish on pedicels that are jointed to and terminate short peduncles Fruit: Greatly increasing in size compared to their size at anthesis and erect and usually loosely coherent to the achene; ovary sessile; achene trigonous Habitat: Range: North America Group: Dicot Family: Polygonaceae Growth Habit: Forb/Herb - Duration: Annual U.S. Nativity: Introduced

References:

Thumbnails of the plant photos were copied from those photos produced by the Texas A&M Bioinformatics Working Group which can be found at the Vascular Plant Image Gallery in the Flowering Gateway. When clicking on the thumbnail your are taken to their originals.

Thumbnails and enlargements of seed photos are from my own personal collection.

Some plant information has been taken from these sources:

Manual of the Vascular Plants of Texas, Donovan S. Correll and Marshall C. Johnston, University of Texas at Dallas, 1979.

USDA, NRCS. 2001. The PLANTS Database, Version 3.1. National Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge, LA 70874-4490 USA.

Trees, Shrubs, and Woody Vines of the Southwest: A guide for the states of Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas, Robert A. Vines, University of Texas Press, 1994.