Abstract
Summary Melica macra Nees is a widespread grass of Central and Northern Argentina. It is considered an invasive weed in natural grasslands. The aim of the present paper is to describe the branching system of M. macra on the base of both the analysis of living plants obtained from seeds and maintained under cultivation, and the observation of plants growing in their natural habitat. The plants are cespitose and able to produce tillers profusely and bear a rhizomatous basal structure ensuring perenniality. Branching along the main axis occurs up to the sixth node, whereas branches of first-order axes are axillary of leaves 1–3, and those of higher-order axes mainly of the first and second leaves. Such higher-order axes are responsible for the formation of the basal rhizomatous structure, which arise as a result of sympodially arranged rhizome links, each of them consisting of four proximal short internodes (including the short hypopodium) of each tiller. The morphology of tillers is largely influenced by the phenological stage, so that tillers developed before and after flowering can be clearly distinguished.
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