Dichanthelium clandestinum
Dichanthelium sphaerocarpon
deer-tongue grass, deer-tongue rosette-panicgrass, deertongue, panic clandestin
round-fruit panicgrass, round-fruit rosette-panicgrass, roundseed panicgrass, roundseed panicum
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.
15-50 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.
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.
3-4(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.
2.4-3.6 mm long, 1.2-1.5 mm wide, narrowly ellipsoid, sparsely pubescent.
1.4-1.8 mm, broadly obovoid-spherical, usually puberulent, sometimes glabrous.
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.
0.4-0.8 mm, acute to obtuse, upper florets 1.1-1.5 mm, broadly ellipsoid, blunt.
rosettes well-differentiated;
sheaths pubescent;
blades ovate to lanceolate.
rosettes well-differentiated;
blades 2-6 cm long, about 1 cm wide, ovate, the uppermost leaves often resembling the lower cauline blades.
panicles 8-16 cm long, 4-12 mm wide, exserted, with many spikelets.
panicles 4-14 cm, more than 1/2 as wide as long, usually long-exserted.
= 36.
= 18.
Dichanthelium clandestinum
Dichanthelium sphaerocarpon
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 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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