Dichanthelium boreale
Dichanthelium wrightianum
northern panicgrass, northern rosette-panicgrass, panic boreal
Wright's panicgrass, Wright's rosette grass, Wright's 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.
15-50 cm tall (rarely taller), 0.3-0.8 mm thick, delicate, erect or ascending;
nodes slightly swollen, often purplish or darker green than the internodes;
internodes usually puberulent;
fall phase branching profusely from the lower and midculm nodes, secondary branches and secondary panicles numerous, usually not greatly reduced.
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.
4-7;
sheaths mostly puberulent or glabrous, margins finely ciliate;
ligules 1.5-3 mm, of hairs;
blades 2-4.5 cm long, 2-5 mm wide, ascending or spreading, occasionally involute, finely appressed-pilose adaxially, puberulent abaxially, bases rounded, margins finely whitish-scabridulous.
2-2.2 mm long, 0.8-1.3 mm wide, ellipsoid, usually reddish, shortly pubescent, subacute.
0.8-1.1 mm, ellipsoid to nearly ovoid, often purplish, puberulent or subglabrous, obtuse or subacute.
0.5-1 mm, triangular-ovate;
lower florets sterile;
upper florets slightly exceeding the upper glumes and lower lemmas, subacute.
1/4 - 1/3 as long as the spikelets, subacute;
upper glumes shorter than the lower lemmas;
lower florets sterile;
upper florets 0.7-0.9 mm, ellipsoid, subacute.
rosettes well-differentiated;
blades 2-4 cm, pubescent, reddish.
rosettes well-differentiated;
blades ovate to lanceolate.
panicles 5-11 cm long, 3-8 cm wide, ovoid, long-exserted, with 40-220 spikelets.
panicles 2.5-5.5 cm, 1/3 – 2/3 as wide as long, well-exserted;
rachises and branches glabrous or sparsely puberulent (at least basally); ultimate branchlets and pedicels glabrous, somewhat viscid.
= 18.
= 18.
Dichanthelium boreale
Dichanthelium wrightianum
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 wrightianum grows in moist, sandy or peaty areas, low pine savannahs, bogs, the margins of ponds, and cypress swamps, in the coastal plain from Massachusetts to Texas and Florida, extending to Cuba, Mexico, Central America, and northern South America. Occasional specimens of Dichanthelium wrightianum, particularly those with subglabrous spikelets, closely resemble D. chamaelonche. Others suggest D. ensifolium, and a few unusually robust specimens closely approach D. acuminatum subsp. longiligulatum. All of these taxa often grow together in the same habitats.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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