Dichanthelium aciculare
Dichanthelium tenue
narrow-leaf panicgrass, needleleaf rosette grass
slender panicgrass
15-75 cm, erect;
nodes glabrous or sparsely pubescent;
internodes glabrous or puberulent to pilose basally;
fall phase with erect to spreading culms, extensively branched from the mid- and upper culm nodes, eventually producing flabellate clusters of reduced, flat or involute blades.
15-55 cm tall, 0.2-0.8 mm thick, erect from geniculate bases;
nodes glabrous;
internodes mostly glabrous, or the lowest internodes sparsely appressed-pubescent basally;
fall phase branching sparingly from the lower and midculm nodes.
3-7;
sheaths shorter than the internodes, glabrous or with soft, ascending, papillose-based hairs;
ligules 0.5-2 mm, of hairs;
lower blades 4-16 cm long, 3-9 mm wide, stiffly ascending to erect, glabrous or sparsely pilose to pubescent, with prominent raised veins, flat or longitudinally wrinkled, blades of the flag leaves often greatly reduced, often involute.
3-4;
sheaths much shorter than the internodes, prominently veined, mostly glabrous, margins occasionally ciliate, ligules 0.2-0.7 mm, of hairs, without adjacent pseudoligules;
blades 2-6 cm long, 1.5-6 mm wide, ascending, distant, flat, relatively thick, glabrous on both surfaces or the abaxial surfaces minutely puberulent, bases rounded, margins more or less prominently whitish-scabridulous, blades of the flag leaves much shorter than those of the lower leaves.
1.7-3.6 mm long, 1.2-1.8 mm wide, obovoid to ellipsoid, biconvex in side view, glabrous or pubescent, bases narrow to attenuate, apices blunt or pointed to beaked.
1.3-1.7 mm long, less than 1 mm wide, ellipsoid, often purplish, densely puberulent, obtuse or subacute.
thin, weakly veined, about 1/3 as long as the spikelets, attached to 0.5 mm below upper glumes, clasping at the base, broadly triangular to rounded;
upper glumes with 5-9 prominent veins;
lower florets sterile;
upper florets apiculate.
usually less than 1/4 as long as the spikelets, broadly acute or obtuse;
upper glumes and lower lemmas subequal, or the glumes slightly shorter, exceeded by the upper florets;
lower florets sterile;
upper florets 1.3-1.6 mm, ellipsoid, subacute.
rosettes poorly differentiated;
blades usually large, ovate to lanceolate, often transitional to the cauline blades.
rosettes well-differentiated;
blades 1-5 cm, ovate to lanceolate.
panicles 2-10 cm long, 0.5-7 cm wide, open or contracted, well-exserted.
panicles 3-6 cm, nearly as wide as long, long-exserted, dense;
branches wiry, spreading to ascending, usually scabridulous.
= 18.
= 18.
Dichanthelium aciculare
Dichanthelium tenue
Dichanthelium aciculare grows in sandy, open areas in the southeastern United States, the West Indies and the Caribbean, southern Mexico, Central America, and northern South America. It has not been reported from northern Mexico. The primary panicles are open-pollinated (sometimes briefly) and develop from April to June; the secondary panicles are cleistogamous and develop from May into late fall.
The subspecies are often distinct when growing together, perhaps maintained by the predominant autogamy, but they are more difficult to separate over wider geographic areas. Rare, partly fertile putative hybrids with Dichanthelium consanguineum, D. acuminatum, D. ovale, D. portoricense, and (possibly) D. dichotomum apparently lead to some intergradation with these species.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Dichanthelium tenue grows in moist to dry, sandy woods, savannahs, and disturbed sites. It also grows in Chiapas, Mexico (Zuloaga et al. 1993). It exhibits features of D. sphaerocarpon and D. dichotomum. It is also closely related to D. ensifolium, and occasional specimens are intermediate between them.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
1. Primary panicles usually contracted; branches appearing 1-sided; culms sparsely pubescent to almost glabrous | subsp. neurantbum |
1. Primary panicles not contracted; branches not appearing 1-sided; culms usually pubescent, at least on the lower internodes. | → 2 |
2. Spikelets 1.7-2.3 mm long, with blunt apices | subsp. aciculare |
2. Spikelets 2.4-3.6 mm long, with pointed or beaked apices. | → 3 |
3. Spikelets 2.4-3 mm long, not strongly attenuate at the base; lower glumes attached less than 0.2 mm below the upper glumes | subsp. angustifolium |
3. Spikelets 2.9-3.6 mm long, strongly attenuate at the base; lower glumes attached 0.3-0.5 mm below the upper glumes | subsp. fusiforme |
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