Dichanthelium clandestinum
Dichanthelium depauperatum
deer-tongue grass, deer-tongue rosette-panicgrass, deertongue, panic clandestin
panic appauvri, starved panic grass, starved rosette-panicgrass
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.
10-45 cm, erect to spreading, lower 4-10 internodes telescoped together, less than 2 cm, upper 2 internodes elongated;
nodes bearded;
internodes pubescent to subglabrous;
fall phase a dense mass of erect blades and foreshortened branches that arise from the basal culm nodes, about 54 of the branches sterile, others with small, narrow, secondary panicles of 3-7 spikelets that remain enclosed within the sheaths.
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.
2-4;
sheaths longer than the internodes, glabrous or densely ascending-pilose;
ligules about 0.5 mm;
blades 6-15 cm long, 1-4 mm wide, green to grayish-green, sometimes involute, glabrous or densely pilose, apices long-tapering, lower blades small to vestigial, upper 2 or 3 blades longer and stiffly erect.
2.4-3.6 mm long, 1.2-1.5 mm wide, narrowly ellipsoid, sparsely pubescent.
3.2-4.3 mm long, 1-1.7 mm wide, ellipsoid-pointed, glabrous or finely pubescent.
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.
1.2-1.6 mm, narrowly triangular;
upper glumes and lower lemmas exceeding the upper florets by 0.2-1 mm, forming a pointed beak, upper florets 1.9-3.1 mm, obovoid, minutely umbonate.
rosettes well-differentiated;
sheaths pubescent;
blades ovate to lanceolate.
rosettes poorly differentiated;
blades similar in shape to the lower cauline blades, narrow, ascending.
panicles 8-16 cm long, 4-12 mm wide, exserted, with many spikelets.
panicles 3-6 cm long, 1.5-3 cm wide, usually long-exserted (sometimes contracted and remaining basal), with 7-25 spikelets.
= 36.
= 18.
Dichanthelium clandestinum
Dichanthelium depauperatum
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 depauperatum grows in dry, open woodlands and open, disturbed areas, especially on sand. It is restricted to the Flora region. The primary panicles, which are rarely open-pollinated, are produced from May to early June; the secondary, cleistogamous panicles are produced from late June through July (rarely in fall). The species is linked with D. perlongum and D. linearifolium by occasional hybrids and hybrid derivatives. In the northern United States and Canada, 80-90% of the plants are glabrous and have been called Panicum depauperatum var. psilophyllum Fernald, P. depauperatum var. involutum (Torr.) Alph. Wood, or, if the primary panicles remain near the base, P. depauperatum forma cryptostachys Fernald; in this treatment, none of these is recognized as a distinct taxonomic entity. The frequency of pilose plants increases southward, where some populations are entirely pilose.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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