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

broad-leaf rosette-panicgrass, broad-leaf witchgrass, broadleaf panicgrass, broadleaf rosette grass, panic à larges feuilles

Habit Plants cespitose, with knotty rhizomes no more than 2 mm thick. Plants forming small clumps, with knotty rhizomes less than 2 mm thick.
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.

45-110 cm, nearly erect;

nodes glabrous or the lower nodes slightly bearded;

internodes glabrous or sparsely pubescent;

fall phase branching from the mid-culm nodes, branches nearly erect, scarcely rebranching, blades and secondary panicles only slightly reduced.

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.

4-6, often with a transitional leaf above the basal rosette;

sheaths not overlapping, glabrous or softly villous basally, margins ciliate, collars pubescent;

ligules 0.4-0.7 mm, membranous, ciliate, cilia longer than the membranous portion;

blades 3.7-7 times longer than wide, 15-40 mm wide, ovate-lanceolate, glabrous or sparsely pubescent, with 11-13 major veins and 40-120 minor veins, bases cordate-clasping, with papillose-based cilia.

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.

2.9-3.9 mm long, 1.6-2 mm wide, ellipsoid, sparsely pubescent.

Lower glumes

about 1.8 mm, narrowly triangular;

lower florets staminate;

upper florets mucronate.

1/3 – 1/2 as long as the spikelets, narrowly triangular;

upper glumes and lower lemmas slightly shorter than the spikelets, often red-tinged basally and apically;

lower florets staminate, anthers exserted prior to those of the upper florets;

upper florets pointed, apiculate, upper lemmas with a minute fringe of hairs.

Basal

rosettes well-differentiated;

blades few, small, ovate to lanceolate.

rosettes well-differentiated;

sheaths pubescent;

blades ovate to lanceolate, dark green.

Primary

panicles 7-15 cm long, 4-12 cm wide, 1.5-2 times as long as wide, with 20-80 spikelets, eventually at least partially exserted;

branches stiff, ascending to spreading.

2n

= 18.

= 18, 36.

Dichanthelium leibergii

Dichanthelium latifolium

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; AR; CT; DC; DE; GA; IA; IL; IN; KS; KY; MA; MD; ME; MI; MN; MO; MS; NC; NE; NH; NJ; NY; OH; OK; PA; RI; SC; TN; TX; VA; VT; WI; WV; ON; QC
[WildflowerSearch map]
[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 latifolium grows in rich deciduous woods, often in slightly open areas within eastern North America. The primary panicles are open-pollinated and develop in May and June (and sometimes in September and October), the secondary panicles, which are produced from July through September, are rarely open-pollinated.

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

Source FNA vol. 25, p. 416. FNA vol. 25, p. 412.
Parent taxa Poaceae > subfam. Panicoideae > tribe Paniceae > Dichanthelium > sect. Macrocarpa Poaceae > subfam. Panicoideae > tribe Paniceae > Dichanthelium > sect. Macrocarpa
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. erectifolium, 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 macrocarpon, Panicum latifolium
Name authority (Vasey) Freckmann (L.) Harvill
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