{{Short description|Genus of grasses}} {{Automatic taxobox |name = Sprangletops |image = Leptochloa.jpg |image_caption = ''Leptochloa digitata'' |display_parents = 3 |taxon = Leptochloa |authority = P.Beauv.<ref name="GRIN">{{cite web |url=http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/genus.pl?6709 |title=Genus: ''Leptochloa'' P. Beauv. |work=Germplasm Resources Information Network |publisher=United States Department of Agriculture |date=2011-02-27 |access-date=2011-02-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110605011133/http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/genus.pl?6709 |archive-date=2011-06-05 |url-status=dead }}</ref> |type_species_authority = (L.) P.Beauv.<ref>lectotype designated by Niles & Chase, Contr. U.S. Natl. 24(6): 180 (1925)</ref><ref>[http://www.tropicos.org/Name/40004870 Tropicos, ''Leptochloa'' P. Beauv.]</ref> |type_species = ''Leptochloa virgata'' |synonyms_ref = <ref name=POWO_18378-1/> |synonyms = {{Genus list |Baldomiria|Herter |Chloropsis|Kuntze |Diachroa|Nutt. |Diacisperma|Kuntze, nom. superfl. |Leptochloris|Munro ex Kuntze, not validly publ. |Leptostachys|G.Mey., nom. superfl. |Oxydenia|Nutt. |Rabdochloa|P.Beauv. |Trichloris|E.Fourn. ex Benth. }} }} '''''Leptochloa''''' is a widespread genus of Asian, Australian, and American plants in the grass family.<ref name=POWO_18378-1/><ref>[https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/394150#page/155/mode/1up Palisot de Beauvois, Ambroise Marie François Joseph. 1812. Essai d'une Nouvelle Agrostographie 71] description in Latin, commentary in French</ref><ref>[https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/394150#page/300/mode/1up Palisot de Beauvois, Ambroise Marie François Joseph. 1812. Essai d'une Nouvelle Agrostographie plate XV (15), figure I (1 a-d)] line drawings of ''Leptochloa virgata'', identified in [https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/394150#page/276/mode/1up captions on page 10]</ref>
Members of the genus are commonly known as '''sprangletops'''.<ref name="GRIN"/><ref>[http://bie.ala.org.au/species/urn:lsid:biodiversity.org.au:apni.taxon:575470 Atlas of Living Australia, ''Leptochloa'' P.Beauv. Sprangletop]</ref>
The generic name is derived from the Greek words ''leptos'', meaning "thin," and ''chloa'', meaning "grass," referring to the inflorescences.<ref>{{cite book |title=CRC World Dictionary of Grasses |volume=II E-O |first=Umberto |last=Quattrocchi |isbn=978-0-8493-1303-5 |year=2006 |publisher=CRC Press |page=1197}}</ref><ref>Peterson, P. M., K. Romaschenko, N. W. Snow & G. Johnson. 2012. A molecular phylogeny and classification of ''Leptochloa'' (Poaceae: Chloridoideae: Chlorideae) sensu lato and related genera. Annals of Botany (Oxford), n.s. 109: 1317–1329</ref>
==Species== {{As of|2024|October}}, Plants of the World Online accepted 14 species:<ref name=POWO_18378-1>{{Cite POWO|title=''Leptochloa'' P.Beauv..|id=18378-1|access-date=2024-11-19|mode=cs1}}</ref> * ''Leptochloa anisopoda'' <small>(B.L.Rob.) P.M.Peterson</small> * ''Leptochloa asthenes'' <small>(Roem. & Schult.) C.E.Hubb.</small> – Australia * ''Leptochloa barbata'' <small>(Desv.) Nicora</small> – Paraguay, Argentina * ''Leptochloa chloridiformis'' <small>(Hack.) Parodi</small> * ''Leptochloa crinita'' <small>(Lag.) P.M.Peterson & N.Snow</small> * ''Leptochloa digitata'' <small>(R.Br.) Domin</small> – Australia * ''Leptochloa exilis'' <small>(Renvoize) P.M.Peterson</small> * ''Leptochloa longa'' <small>Griseb.</small> – Panama, Trinidad * ''Leptochloa malayana'' <small>(C.E.Hubb.) Jansen ex Veldkamp</small> – Thailand, Borneo, Malaysia * ''Leptochloa monticola'' <small>Chase</small> – Hispaniola * ''Leptochloa mucronata'' <small>(Michx.) Kunth</small> – south-central USA, Mesoamerica, Bermuda, Trinidad, Netherlands Antilles, Bolivia, Ecuador, Peru, Galápagos * ''Leptochloa pluriflora'' <small>(E.Fourn.) P.M.Peterson & N.Snow</small> * ''Leptochloa tectoneticola'' <small>(Backer) Jansen ex Veldkamp</small> – Cambodia, Thailand, Java * ''Leptochloa virgata'' <small>(L.) P.Beauv.</small> – tropic sprangletop – from South Carolina to Paraguay
===Former species=== Species formerly placed in ''Leptochloa'' include:<ref name=y>[http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/synonomy.do?name_id=422218 Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families]</ref> <br/>(See ''Arundinella Acrachne Bouteloua Chloris Coelachyrum Cynodon Desmostachya Dinebra Diplachne Disakisperma Eleusine Enteropogon Eragrostis Gouinia Gymnopogon Leptocarydion Myriostachya Pogonarthria Rostraria Trichoneura Trigonochloa Tripogon''.) {{Columns-list|colwidth=30em| * ''Leptochloa acuminata - Diplachne fusca'' subsp. ''fascicularis'' * ''Leptochloa albemarlensis'' - ''Trichoneura lindleyana'' * ''Leptochloa appletonii - Coelachyrum yemenicum'' * ''Leptochloa arabica - Dinebra retroflexa'' * ''Leptochloa arenaria - Trichoneura mollis'' * ''Leptochloa bipinnata - Desmostachya bipinnata'' * ''Leptochloa brandegeei - Enteropogon brandegeei'' * ''Leptochloa burchellii - Gymnopogon burchellii'' * ''Leptochloa calycina - Dinebra retroflexa'' * ''Leptochloa chinensis'' – ''Dinebra chinensis'' * ''Leptochloa ciliata - Trichoneura ciliata'' * ''Leptochloa contracta - Diplachne fusca'' * ''Leptochloa coromandelina - Dinebra retroflexa'' * ''Leptochloa cynosuroides - Chloris filiformis'' * ''Leptochloa digitatiformis - Disakisperma dubium'' * ''Leptochloa dubia - Disakisperma dubium'' * ''Leptochloa eleusine - Disakisperma eleusine'' * ''Leptochloa falcata - Pogonarthria squarrosa'' * ''Leptochloa fascicularis - Diplachne fusca'' subsp. ''fascicularis'' * ''Leptochloa fusca - Diplachne fusca'' * ''Leptochloa gigantea - Diplachne gigantea'' * ''Leptochloa ginae - Diplachne fusca'' * ''Leptochloa gracilis - Trigonochloa uniflora'' * ''Leptochloa grandiglumis - Trichoneura grandiglumis'' * ''Leptochloa hirta - Bouteloua disticha'' * ''Leptochloa hookeri - Trichoneura lindleyana'' * ''Leptochloa imbricata - Diplachne fusca'' subsp. ''uninervia'' * ''Leptochloa laurentii - Trigonochloa uniflora'' * ''Leptochloa lindleyana - Trichoneura lindleyana'' * ''Leptochloa loliiformis - Tripogon loliiformis'' * ''Leptochloa longiglumis - Trichoneura mollis'' * ''Leptochloa malabarica - Diplachne fusca'' * ''Leptochloa maritima - Diplachne fusca'' subsp. ''fascicularis'' * ''Leptochloa marlothii - Pogonarthria squarrosa'' * ''Leptochloa marquisensis - Dinebra marquisensis'' * ''Leptochloa mexicana - Gouinia mexicana'' * ''Leptochloa mollis - Trichoneura mollis'' * ''Leptochloa monostachya - Enteropogon monostachyos'' * ''Leptochloa muelleri - Diplachne fusca'' subsp. ''muelleri'' * ''Leptochloa neuroglossa - Diplachne fusca'' * ''Leptochloa obtusiflora'' <small>Hochst.</small> - ''Disakisperma obtusiflorum'' * ''Leptochloa obtusiflora'' <small>Steud.</small> - ''Disakisperma dubium'' * ''Leptochloa palmeri - Gouinia virgata'' * ''Leptochloa panicoides'' <small>Wight ex Steud. not (J.Presl) Hitchc.</small> - ''Arundinella leptochloa'' * ''Leptochloa parviflora - Diplachne fusca'' * ''Leptochloa patens - Disakisperma dubium'' * ''Leptochloa pectinata - Eleusine indica'' * ''Leptochloa phleoidea - Rostraria cristata'' * ''Leptochloa plectostachya - Cynodon plectostachyus'' * ''Leptochloa plumosa - Leptocarydion vulpiastrum'' * ''Leptochloa pluriflora - Trichloris pluriflora'' * ''Leptochloa polygama - Gouinia virgata'' * ''Leptochloa polystachya - Diplachne fusca'' subsp. ''fascicularis'' * ''Leptochloa pringlei - Disakisperma dubium'' * ''Leptochloa racemosa - Acrachne racemosa'' * ''Leptochloa rigida - Eragrostis sessilispica'' * ''Leptochloa rupestris - Trigonochloa rupestris'' * ''Leptochloa schimperiana - Acrachne racemosa'' * ''Leptochloa setacea - Tripogon leptophyllus'' * ''Leptochloa spicata - Tripogon spicatus'' * ''Leptochloa tracyi - Diplachne fusca'' subsp. ''fascicularis'' * ''Leptochloa uniflora - Trigonochloa uniflora'' * ''Leptochloa uninervia - Diplachne fusca'' subsp. ''uninervia'' * ''Leptochloa verticillata - Acrachne racemosa'' * ''Leptochloa virletii - Diplachne fusca'' subsp. ''uninervia'' * ''Leptochloa wightiana - Myriostachya wightiana'' * ''Leptochloa xerophila - Dinebra xerophila'' * ''Leptochloa yemensis - Disakisperma obtusiflorum'' }}
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== {{Commons category|Leptochloa|<br />Leptochloa}} * {{Wikispecies-inline}} * [http://www.kew.org/data/grasses-db/www/gen00337.htm Grassbase - The World Online Grass Flora]
{{Taxonbar|from=Q3310384}} {{Authority control}}
Category:Chloridoideae Category:Grasses of Asia Category:Grasses of North America Category:Grasses of Oceania Category:Poaceae genera Category:Taxa named by Palisot de Beauvois