Dichanthelium boreale
Dichanthelium sphaerocarpon
northern panicgrass, northern rosette-panicgrass, panic boreal
round-fruit panicgrass, round-fruit rosette-panicgrass, roundseed panicgrass, roundseed 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.
15-50 cm, few together, decumbent or ascending, light green, glabrous, slightly fleshy or thickened;
fall phase branching mostly near the bases, with sparse branching;
nodes appressed-pubescent or glabrous.
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.
3-4(6);
sheaths sometimes overlapping near the bases, glabrous, margins ciliate;
ligules almost obsolete, or of 0.2-0.8 mm hairs from a tiny membranous base;
blades 1.5-10 cm long, 5-14 mm wide, thick, light green, faintly veined, bases cordate, with papillose-based cilia, margins white, cartilaginous.
2-2.2 mm long, 0.8-1.3 mm wide, ellipsoid, usually reddish, shortly pubescent, subacute.
1.4-1.8 mm, broadly obovoid-spherical, usually puberulent, sometimes glabrous.
0.5-1 mm, triangular-ovate;
lower florets sterile;
upper florets slightly exceeding the upper glumes and lower lemmas, subacute.
0.4-0.8 mm, acute to obtuse, upper florets 1.1-1.5 mm, broadly ellipsoid, blunt.
rosettes well-differentiated;
blades 2-4 cm, pubescent, reddish.
rosettes well-differentiated;
blades 2-6 cm long, about 1 cm wide, ovate, the uppermost leaves often resembling the lower cauline blades.
panicles 5-11 cm long, 3-8 cm wide, ovoid, long-exserted, with 40-220 spikelets.
panicles 4-14 cm, more than 1/2 as wide as long, usually long-exserted.
= 18.
= 18.
Dichanthelium boreale
Dichanthelium sphaerocarpon
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 sphaerocarpon grows in dry, open woods and roadsides. Its range extends from eastern North America to Ecuador and Venezuela. It occasionally hybridizes with other species, including D. polyanthes, D. acuminatum, and D. laxiflorum.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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