Melica


Melica is a genus of perennial grasses known generally as melic or melic grass. They are found in most temperate regions of the world.
spikelet
of Melica spectabilis, purple oniongrass
 'Atropurpurea' cultivar
in situ
Melic grasses are clumping to short-rhizomatous grasses. They have flowering culms up to tall bearing spikelets of papery flowers. The spikelets have between one and seven fertile flowers with a rudimentary structure at the distal end composed of one to four sterile florets. Some species of melic have corms, lending them the name oniongrass.
The genus is most diverse in South America and temperate Asia. Eight species are endemic to China. In North America, most species occur west of the Mississippi River, with exceptions being Melica mutica and M. nitens'' which occur throughout much of the southeast and lower Midwest respectively.

Species

Species and hybrids include: