Dichanthelium clandestinum
Dichanthelium oligosanthes
deer-tongue grass, deer-tongue rosette-panicgrass, deertongue, panic clandestin
few-flower panic grass, few-flower rosette-panicgrass, few-flower witchgrass, fewanther obscuregrass, Heller's rosette grass, Scribner's panic grass, Scribner's perennial panicgrass, Scribner's witchgrass
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.
20-75 cm, geniculate basally, stiffly erect distally;
nodes glabrous or sparsely pubescent;
internodes often purplish, glabrous, puberulent, or papillose-hirsute;
fall phase branching from the midculm nodes, branches initially ascending to erect, sometimes developing simultaneously with and overtopping the primary panicles, later rebranching to form short, bushy clumps of blades and small, included secondary panicles.
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.
5-7;
sheaths not overlapping, glabrous, puberulent, or ascending papillose-hispid, margins ciliate, collars loose, puberulent;
ligules 1-3 mm, of hairs;
blades 5-12 cm long, 4-15 mm wide, flat or partly involute, glabrous or pubescent abaxially, with 7-9 major veins only slightly more prominent than the minor veins, bases ciliate, rounded to truncate, margins cartilaginous.
2.4-3.6 mm long, 1.2-1.5 mm wide, narrowly ellipsoid, sparsely pubescent.
2.7-4.2 mm long, 1.7-2.4 mm wide, ellipsoid to broadly obovoid, turgid, glabrous or sparsely 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.
1-1.6 mm, acute, similar in texture and vein prominence to the upper glumes;
upper glumes strongly veined, often orange to purplish at the base;
lower florets sterile;
upper florets with minutely umbonate apices.
rosettes well-differentiated;
sheaths pubescent;
blades ovate to lanceolate.
rosettes well-differentiated;
blades 2-6 cm, few, ovate to lanceolate.
panicles 8-16 cm long, 4-12 mm wide, exserted, with many spikelets.
panicles 5-9 cm long, 3-6 cm wide, partly enclosed to long-exserted, with 6-60 spikelets;
branches stiff or wiry, puberulent or scabridulous.
= 36.
= 18.
Dichanthelium clandestinum
Dichanthelium oligosanthes
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 oligosanthes grows throughout the southern portion of the Flora region and extends into northern Mexico. The primary panicles are briefly open-pollinated, then cleistogamous, from late May to early June; the secondary panicles, which are produced from June to November, are cleistogamous. The subspecies intergrade in areas of overlapping range, but they are usually distinct elsewhere.
Specimens of Dichanthelium oligosanthes that have few elongated internodes, but those elongated more than usual, are often mistaken for D. wilcoxianum. Unlike that species, however, they have turgid spikelets with an orange spot at the base of the lemma, indicating that they belong to D. oligosanthes. Such specimens seem to be most common among collections made in the southern and southwestern states during November, February, or March.
Sterile hybrids with Dichanthelium acuminatum have often been called Panicum scoparioid.es Ashe. Apparent hybrids with D. malacophyllum, D. ovale, and D. acuminatum subsp. columbianum are occasionally found.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
1. Spikelets ellipsoid to oblong-obovoid, usually 3.4-4.2 mm long, 1.7-2 mm wide, usually sparsely pubescent; blades usually 4-9 mm wide, more than 10 times longer than wide, often partly imolute; ligules 2-3 mm | subsp. oligosanthes |
1. Spikelets broadly obovoid-ellipsoid, 2.7-3.5 mm long, 2-2.4 mm wide, usually glabrous; blades usually 6-15 mm wide, less than 10 times longer than wide, flat; ligules 1-1.5 mm long | subsp. scribnerianum |
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