Dichanthelium clandestinum
Dichanthelium aciculare
deer-tongue grass, deer-tongue rosette-panicgrass, deertongue, panic clandestin
narrow-leaf panicgrass, needleleaf rosette grass
50-140 cm, stout, pilose with papillose-based hairs to subglabrous;
fall phase branching from the mid- and upper culm nodes, with a few, nearly erect, elongate branches, sparsely rebranching, sheaths overlapping, concealing the secondary panicles;
nodes not swollen, glabrous or sparsely pubescent.
15-75 cm, erect;
nodes glabrous or sparsely pubescent;
internodes glabrous or puberulent to pilose basally;
fall phase with erect to spreading culms, extensively branched from the mid- and upper culm nodes, eventually producing flabellate clusters of reduced, flat or involute blades.
5-10;
sheaths not overlapping, striate-ribbed, narrowing above midlength, hispid to sparsely hirsute, hairs sometimes papillose-based, summits mottled with pale spots, margins ciliate, collars puberulent;
ligules 0.4-0.9 mm, membranous;
blades 10-25 cm long, 15-30 mm wide, flat, lanceolate, often rigid, glabrous or sparsely pubescent, with 9-13 major veins and 40-80 minor veins, bases cordate, with papillose-based cilia, apices acuminate.
3-7;
sheaths shorter than the internodes, glabrous or with soft, ascending, papillose-based hairs;
ligules 0.5-2 mm, of hairs;
lower blades 4-16 cm long, 3-9 mm wide, stiffly ascending to erect, glabrous or sparsely pilose to pubescent, with prominent raised veins, flat or longitudinally wrinkled, blades of the flag leaves often greatly reduced, often involute.
2.4-3.6 mm long, 1.2-1.5 mm wide, narrowly ellipsoid, sparsely pubescent.
1.7-3.6 mm long, 1.2-1.8 mm wide, obovoid to ellipsoid, biconvex in side view, glabrous or pubescent, bases narrow to attenuate, apices blunt or pointed to beaked.
1/3 – 1/2 as long as the spikelets, narrowly triangular;
upper glumes and lower florets slightly shorter than the spikelets, with 7 or 9 prominent veins;
lower florets sterile;
upper florets umbonate, apices with a minute tuft of hairs.
thin, weakly veined, about 1/3 as long as the spikelets, attached to 0.5 mm below upper glumes, clasping at the base, broadly triangular to rounded;
upper glumes with 5-9 prominent veins;
lower florets sterile;
upper florets apiculate.
rosettes well-differentiated;
sheaths pubescent;
blades ovate to lanceolate.
rosettes poorly differentiated;
blades usually large, ovate to lanceolate, often transitional to the cauline blades.
panicles 8-16 cm long, 4-12 mm wide, exserted, with many spikelets.
panicles 2-10 cm long, 0.5-7 cm wide, open or contracted, well-exserted.
= 36.
= 18.
Dichanthelium clandestinum
Dichanthelium aciculare
Dichanthelium clandestinum usually grows in semi-open areas in damp or sandy woodlands, thickets, or on banks. It is restricted to the eastern part of the Flora region. The primary panicles are open-pollinated for a brief period, and produced from late May to early July; the secondary panicles, which are cleistogamous and usually concealed within the sheaths, are produced from July through September.
Panicum recognitum Fernald refers to rare sterile hybrids with Dichanthelium dichotomum and perhaps D. scoparium; P. aculeatum Hitchc. & Chase to putative sterile hybrids with D. scabriusculum or D. dichotomum.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Dichanthelium aciculare grows in sandy, open areas in the southeastern United States, the West Indies and the Caribbean, southern Mexico, Central America, and northern South America. It has not been reported from northern Mexico. The primary panicles are open-pollinated (sometimes briefly) and develop from April to June; the secondary panicles are cleistogamous and develop from May into late fall.
The subspecies are often distinct when growing together, perhaps maintained by the predominant autogamy, but they are more difficult to separate over wider geographic areas. Rare, partly fertile putative hybrids with Dichanthelium consanguineum, D. acuminatum, D. ovale, D. portoricense, and (possibly) D. dichotomum apparently lead to some intergradation with these species.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
1. Primary panicles usually contracted; branches appearing 1-sided; culms sparsely pubescent to almost glabrous | subsp. neurantbum |
1. Primary panicles not contracted; branches not appearing 1-sided; culms usually pubescent, at least on the lower internodes. | → 2 |
2. Spikelets 1.7-2.3 mm long, with blunt apices | subsp. aciculare |
2. Spikelets 2.4-3.6 mm long, with pointed or beaked apices. | → 3 |
3. Spikelets 2.4-3 mm long, not strongly attenuate at the base; lower glumes attached less than 0.2 mm below the upper glumes | subsp. angustifolium |
3. Spikelets 2.9-3.6 mm long, strongly attenuate at the base; lower glumes attached 0.3-0.5 mm below the upper glumes | subsp. fusiforme |
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