Dichanthelium leibergii
Dichanthelium oligosanthes
Leiberg's panicum, Leiberg's rosette grass, leibergs panicgrass
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
3.3-3.8 mm long, 1.6-2 mm wide, ellipsoid-obovoid, turgid, pubescent, hairs papillose-based, apices rounded.
2.7-4.2 mm long, 1.7-2.4 mm wide, ellipsoid to broadly obovoid, turgid, glabrous or sparsely pubescent.
about 1.8 mm, narrowly triangular;
lower florets staminate;
upper florets mucronate.
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;
blades few, small, ovate to lanceolate.
rosettes well-differentiated;
blades 2-6 cm, few, ovate to lanceolate.
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.
= 18.
= 18.
Dichanthelium leibergii
Dichanthelium oligosanthes
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 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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