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Leiberg's panicum, Leiberg's rosette grass, leibergs panicgrass

erect-leaf panicgrass, Florida panicgrass

Habit Plants cespitose, with knotty rhizomes no more than 2 mm thick. Plants cespitose, with few culms.
Culms

24-80 cm, glabrous or puberulent;

nodes sparsely, spreading-pilose;

internodes mostly elongated, glabrous or puberulent;

fall phase with a few suberect branches from the lower and midculm nodes, blades slightly reduced, secondary panicles partially exserted.

30-75 cm, nearly erect, stiff, slightly fleshy or thickened;

nodes glabrous, often with a constricted, yellowish ring;

internodes glabrous;

fall phase with few, long, suberect branches, sparingly rebranched, branches arising mostly from near the base.

Cauline leaves

3-4;

sheaths not overlapping, with ascending papillose-based hairs;

ligules 0.3-0.5 mm, membranous, ciliate, cilia longer than the membranous portion;

blades 5-15 cm long, 7-13 mm wide, ascending to erect, sparsely to densely pubescent with papillose-based hairs, with 9-11 prominent major veins and 25-50 minor veins, bases truncate to cordate, margins with papillose-based cilia.

4-7;

sheaths shorter than the internodes, mostly glabrous, margins ciliate;

ligules 0.2-0.5 mm;

blades 5-10 cm long, 5-10 mm wide, stiffly ascending, thick, glabrous, veins evident, bases cordate, with papillose-based cilia, margins whitish, cartilaginous.

Panicles

6-10 cm long, 3-5 cm wide, their length usually less than twice their width, eventually well-exserted, with 20-40 spikelets;

branches spreading to ascending.

Spikelets

3.3-3.8 mm long, 1.6-2 mm wide, ellipsoid-obovoid, turgid, pubescent, hairs papillose-based, apices rounded.

1-1.4 mm, broadly obovoid-spherical, puberulent to subglabrous.

Lower glumes

about 1.8 mm, narrowly triangular;

lower florets staminate;

upper florets mucronate.

0.2-0.4 mm, acute, upper florets 0.8-1.1 mm, broadly ellipsoid, minutely umbonate.

Basal

rosettes well-differentiated;

blades few, small, ovate to lanceolate.

rosettes well-differentiated;

blades numerous, to 15 cm, lowest blades ovate, upper blades lanceolate, grading into the cauline blades.

Primary

panicles 5-14 cm, 1/2 - 2/3 as wide as long, exserted.

2n

= 18.

= unknown.

Dichanthelium leibergii

Dichanthelium erectifolium

Distribution
from FNA
IA; IL; IN; KS; MI; MN; MO; ND; NE; NY; OH; PA; SD; WI; AB; MB; ON; SK
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AL; FL; GA; LA; MS; NC; SC
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Dichanthelium leibergii grows primarily on prairie relics, but is occasionally found in sandy woodlands. It is restricted to the Flora region. The primary panicles are produced from mid-May through July, the secondary panicles from late June to September. Sterile putative hybrids with D. acuminatum and D. xantho-physum are occasionally found.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Dichanthelium erectifolium grows in sand and peat in wet pinelands, bogs, and the shores of ponds. Its range extends from the southeastern Flora region into the Caribbean.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Source FNA vol. 25, p. 416. FNA vol. 25, p. 440.
Parent taxa Poaceae > subfam. Panicoideae > tribe Paniceae > Dichanthelium > sect. Macrocarpa Poaceae > subfam. Panicoideae > tribe Paniceae > Dichanthelium > sect. Sphaerocarpa
Sibling taxa
D. aciculare, D. acuminatum, D. boreale, D. boscii, D. chamaelonche, D. clandestinum, D. commutatum, D. consanguineum, D. depauperatum, D. dichotomum, D. ensifolium, D. erectifolium, D. latifolium, D. laxiflorum, D. linearifolium, D. malacophyllum, D. nodatum, D. nudicaule, D. oligosanthes, D. ovale, D. pedicellatum, D. perlongum, D. polyanthes, D. portoricense, D. ravenelii, D. scabriusculum, D. scoparium, D. sphaerocarpon, D. strigosum, D. tenue, D. wilcoxianum, D. wrightianum, D. ×anthophysum
D. aciculare, D. acuminatum, D. boreale, D. boscii, D. chamaelonche, D. clandestinum, D. commutatum, D. consanguineum, D. depauperatum, D. dichotomum, D. ensifolium, D. latifolium, D. laxiflorum, D. leibergii, D. linearifolium, D. malacophyllum, D. nodatum, D. nudicaule, D. oligosanthes, D. ovale, D. pedicellatum, D. perlongum, D. polyanthes, D. portoricense, D. ravenelii, D. scabriusculum, D. scoparium, D. sphaerocarpon, D. strigosum, D. tenue, D. wilcoxianum, D. wrightianum, D. ×anthophysum
Synonyms Panicum leibergii Panicum erectifolium
Name authority (Vasey) Freckmann (Nash) Gould & C.A. Clark
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