Trichophorum
Diagrammatic vertical section of stem (putative)

From observations of stem cross-sections, the stem anatomy of the two species seems clear.

Common Deergrass T. germanicum has vertical channels of clear cells (aerenchyma) running the full length of the stem through the green tissue (chlorenchyma). There is a pair of such channels in each sector of chlorenchyma.

In Northern Deergrass T. cespitosum there are no aerenchyma channels and the sectors of chlorenchyma are ‘solid’.

The stem anatomy of the Hybrid Deergrass T. × foersteri is less clear. It is thought that there is a variable expression of the tendency to create air-channels, manifested as ‘islets’ of clear cells, scattered through the length of the chlorenchyma.

Diagram of putative vertical sections of stems




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