Dichanthelium boreale
Dichanthelium malacophyllum
northern panicgrass, northern rosette-panicgrass, panic boreal
soft-leaf panicgrass, softleaf rosette grass
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.
20-70 cm, usually 1-2 mm thick, erect;
nodes retrorsely bearded;
internodes puberulent and densely pubescent with soft, spreading to retrorse hairs, hairs papillose-based, papillae small;
fall phase branching from the mid- and upper culm nodes, ultimately much rebranched, with short, bushy clumps of blades and small, included secondary panicles, this branching beginning before the the primary panicles are exserted.
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.
5-6;
sheaths not overlapping, pubescence not as dense as on the culms;
collars puberulent;
ligules 0.5-1 mm, of hairs, bases of the hairs forming a thickened ring, pseudoligules of 1-3 mm hairs also present;
blades 5-10 cm long, 6-12 mm wide, lax, both surfaces velvety pubescent, with 9 or 11 major veins, these only slightly more prominent than the minor veins, bases rounded, margins ciliate.
2-2.2 mm long, 0.8-1.3 mm wide, ellipsoid, usually reddish, shortly pubescent, subacute.
2.5-3.2 mm long, 1.5-1.6 mm wide, broadly ellipsoid-obovoid, turgid, with papillose-based hairs, sometimes pilose.
0.5-1 mm, triangular-ovate;
lower florets sterile;
upper florets slightly exceeding the upper glumes and lower lemmas, subacute.
1-1.6 mm, strongly veined, acute;
upper glumes strongly veined, often purplish, especially towards the bases;
lower florets sterile;
upper florets minutely umbonate.
rosettes well-differentiated;
blades 2-4 cm, pubescent, reddish.
rosettes well-differentiated;
blades 2-4 cm, ovate to lanceolate.
panicles 5-11 cm long, 3-8 cm wide, ovoid, long-exserted, with 40-220 spikelets.
panicles 3-7 cm long, 2-5 cm wide, tardily and shortly exserted;
rachises and branches densely pubescent.
= 18.
= 18.
Dichanthelium boreale
Dichanthelium malacophyllum
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 malacophyllum usually grows in cedar glades, on dry limestone soils. It is restricted to the United States. The primary panicles are briefly open-pollinated from late May to early June; the secondary panicles, which are produced from June to November, are cleistogamous. The species occasionally intergrades, and perhaps hybridizes, with D. oligosanthes and D. acuminatum.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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