Dichanthelium boreale
Dichanthelium linearifolium
northern panicgrass, northern rosette-panicgrass, panic boreal
linear-leaf panicgrass, linear-leaf rosette-panicgrass, panic à feuilles linéaires, slim-leaf rosette grass, slimleaf panicgrass, slimleaf panicum
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.
10-50 cm, very slender, erect to drooping, lower 3-8 internodes telescoped together, less than 2 cm, upper 2 internodes elongated;
nodes bearded;
internodes pubescent to almost glabrous;
fall phase developing a dense mass of erect blades and foreshortened branches arising from the basal nodes, terminating in small, narrow secondary panicles that are enclosed within the sheaths, with 6-15 spikelets.
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.
2-4;
sheaths longer than the internodes, glabrous or pilose with dense, fine, papillose-based hairs;
ligules about 0.5 mm;
blades 5-20 cm long, 2-5 mm wide, stiffly ascending to erect, green to grayish-green, glabrous or densely pilose, apices long-tapering, lower blades shorter than the upper 2 or 3 blades.
2-2.2 mm long, 0.8-1.3 mm wide, ellipsoid, usually reddish, shortly pubescent, subacute.
2-3.2 mm long, 0.8-1.4 mm wide, ellipsoid, not turgid, sparsely pubescent.
0.5-1 mm, triangular-ovate;
lower florets sterile;
upper florets slightly exceeding the upper glumes and lower lemmas, subacute.
0.6-1.1 mm, ovate-triangular;
upper glumes and lower lemmas exceeding the upper florets by about 0.2 mm before flowering, subequal in fruit, slightly pointed at maturity, upper florets 1.7-2.3 mm, ovoid-ellipsoid, minutely umbonate.
rosettes well-differentiated;
blades 2-4 cm, pubescent, reddish.
rosettes poorly differentiated;
blades similar in shape to the lower cauline blades, narrow, ascending.
panicles 5-11 cm long, 3-8 cm wide, ovoid, long-exserted, with 40-220 spikelets.
panicles 4-10 cm long, 2-6 cm wide, long-exserted, with 12-70 spikelets;
branches and pedicels spreading.
= 18.
= 18.
Dichanthelium boreale
Dichanthelium linearifolium
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 linearifolium grows in dry, open woodlands, rock outcroppings, and sandy areas. It is restricted to the Flora region. The primary panicles are briefly open-pollinated, produced from May to early June; the secondary panicles are cleistogamous, produced from late June through July (rarely in fall). Plants in the northern United States and Canada tend to be shorter and more spreading, subglabrous, and to have spikelets 2-2.6 mm long; they have been called Panicum werneri Scribn., but do not merit taxonomic recognition. In the southwestern part of its range, especially in the Ozarks, most plants of D. linearifolium are tall, erect, densely pilose, with very elongated blades and spikelets often 2.6-3 mm long; they may hybridize with D. perlongum.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Go Botany
IL Wildflowers
MD Biodiversity
MI Flora
MN Wildflowers
MO Plants
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
KS Wildflowers
LA Plants
