Dichanthelium boreale
Dichanthelium commutatum
northern panicgrass, northern rosette-panicgrass, panic boreal
variable panicgrass, variable rosette-panicgrass
18-75 cm, usually more than 1 mm thick, occasionally delicate, erect or ascending;
nodes glabrous;
internodes glabrous;
fall phase with decumbent culms, branches arising from the lower and midculm nodes, rebranching 2-3 times, with small blades and secondary panicles compared to those on the culms, secondary panicles with 8-10 spikelets, partially included at maturity.
20-75 cm, erect or decumbent to sprawling, often purplish;
nodes and internodes glabrous or puberulent to pubescent;
fall phase initially nearly erect, often sprawling eventually, branches initially erect and apparently dichotomous, later rebranching, blades and secondary panicles smaller than those of the culms.
3-5;
sheaths shorter than the internodes, lower sheaths pubescent, upper sheaths glabrous, margins of all sheaths sparsely ciliate;
ligules about 0.5 mm, of hairs;
blades 5-11 cm long, 5-13 mm wide, thin, spreading to erect, usually glabrous, rarely pubescent abaxially, always glabrous adaxially, bases truncate to cordate, ciliate on the margins, blades of the flag leaves erect or ascending.
4-6;
sheaths not overlapping, often glaucous, purplish, or olivaceous, glabrous or puberulent, margins usually ciliate;
ligules about 0.3 mm, membranous, ciliate, cilia longer than the membranous portion, rarely with adjacent, about 12 mm hairs;
blades 5-16 cm long, 5-25 mm wide, linear to ovate-lanceolate, glabrous or puberulent, with 9-13 major veins and 30-80 minor veins, bases cordate-clasping, often asymmetrical, with papillose-based marginal cilia.
5-12 cm long, 3-10 cm wide, open, exserted;
branches flexuous.
2-2.2 mm long, 0.8-1.3 mm wide, ellipsoid, usually reddish, shortly pubescent, subacute.
2.2-3.2 mm long, 1.1-1.3 mm wide, ellipsoid, yellowish-green or purplish, pubescent.
0.5-1 mm, triangular-ovate;
lower florets sterile;
upper florets slightly exceeding the upper glumes and lower lemmas, subacute.
0.7-1.8 mm;
upper glumes and lower lemmas equaling or slightly shorter than the spikelets;
lower florets sterile;
upper florets often minutely umbonate.
rosettes well-differentiated;
blades 2-4 cm, pubescent, reddish.
rosettes well-differentiated;
blades 1-14 cm long, to 22 mm wide, ovate to lanceolate.
panicles 5-11 cm long, 3-8 cm wide, ovoid, long-exserted, with 40-220 spikelets.
= 18.
= 18.
Dichanthelium boreale
Dichanthelium commutatum
Dichanthelium boreale grows in open woodlands and thickets, wet meadows, and fields. It is restricted to the Flora region. The primary panicles are mostly open-pollinated and are produced in May and June; the secondary panicles are predominantly cleistogamous and are produced from mid-June into October.
Dichanthelium boreale occasionally hybridizes with D. acuminatum and D. xanthophysum, producing a sterile triploid sometimes called Panicum calliphyllum Ashe.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Dichanthelium commutatum is fairly common in dry to wet, semi-open woodlands. Its range extends from the eastern United States to South America. The primary panicles are open-pollinated and are produced from April through June; the secondary panicles are primarily cleistogamous and are produced from June through fall. The four subspecies are fairly distinct in some parts of their ranges, but subsp. commutatum intergrades with the other three where they occur together.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
1. Culms densely crisp-puberulent; spikelets 2.2-2.7 mm long; cauline blades usually 5-8 cm long, 5-10 mm wide, thick, the bases symmetrical; rosette blades usually less than 3 cm long and to 6 mm wide | subsp. ashei |
1. Culms usually glabrous or sparsely pubescent; spikelets 2.6-3.2 mm long; cauline blades usually more than 8 cm long and 10 mm wide, thin, bases sometimes asymmetrical; rosette blades large, some more than 4 cm long and 10 mm wide. | → 2 |
2. Cauline blades nearly linear, 5-14 mm wide, about 10 times as long as wide; spikelets 3-3.2 mm long; lower glumes about 1/2 as long as the spikelets | subsp. equilaterale |
2. Cauline blades ovate-lanceolate, 6-25 mm wide, about 4-8 times as long as wide; spikelets 2.6-3.2 mm long; lower glumes about 1/4 as long as the spikelets. | → 3 |
3. Culms decumbent or sprawling, with loose caudices or rhizomes; blades strongly asymmetric-falcate, often; spikelets 2.9-3.2 mm long; lower lemmas pointed | subsp. joorii |
3. Culms more or less erect, with caudices; blades almost symmetrical, green, sometimes glaucous; spikelets 2.6-2.9 mm long; lower lemmas rounded | subsp. commutatum |
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