Dichanthelium linearifolium |
Dichanthelium acuminatum |
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linear-leaf panicgrass, linear-leaf rosette-panicgrass, panic à feuilles linéaires, slim-leaf rosette grass, slimleaf panicgrass, slimleaf panicum |
hairy panic grass, hairy perennial panicgrass, hairy rosette-panicgrass, hotsprings rosette grass, panic laineux, tapered rosette grass, western witchgrass, woolly panic grass, woolly witchgrass |
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Habit | Plants cespitose. | Plants more or less densely cespitose. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Culms | 10-50 cm, very slender, erect to drooping, lower 3-8 internodes telescoped together, less than 2 cm, upper 2 internodes elongated; nodes bearded; internodes pubescent to almost glabrous; fall phase developing a dense mass of erect blades and foreshortened branches arising from the basal nodes, terminating in small, narrow secondary panicles that are enclosed within the sheaths, with 6-15 spikelets. |
15-100 cm (rarely taller), usually thicker than 1 mm, weak and wiry or relatively stout and rigid, erect, ascending or decumbent; nodes occasionally swollen, glabrous or densely pubescent, often with a glabrous or viscid ring below; internodes purplish or olive green or grayish-green, to yellowish-green, variously pubescent, with hairs of 2 lengths or glabrous; fall phase erect, spreading, or decumbent, usually branching extensively at all but the uppermost nodes, ultimately forming dense fascicles of branchlets with reduced, flat or involute blades and reduced secondary panicles with few spikelets. |
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Cauline leaves | 2-4; sheaths longer than the internodes, glabrous or pilose with dense, fine, papillose-based hairs; ligules about 0.5 mm; blades 5-20 cm long, 2-5 mm wide, stiffly ascending to erect, green to grayish-green, glabrous or densely pilose, apices long-tapering, lower blades shorter than the upper 2 or 3 blades. |
4-7; sheaths usually shorter than the internodes, glabrous or densely and variously pubescent with hairs shorter than 3 mm, margins ciliate or glabrous; ligules and pseudoligules 1-5 mm, of hairs; blades 2-12 cm long (rarely longer), 2-12 mm wide (rarely wider), firm or lax, spreading to reflexed or stiffly ascending, yellowish-green or grayish-green to olivaceous, densely to sparsely and variously pubescent, margins similar or occasionally whitish-scabridulous, margins often with papillose-based cilia, at least basally, bases rounded or subcordate. |
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Spikelets | 2-3.2 mm long, 0.8-1.4 mm wide, ellipsoid, not turgid, sparsely pubescent. |
1.1-2.1 mm, obovoid to ellipsoid, yellowish-green to olivaceous or purplish, variously pubescent, obtuse or subacute. |
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Lower glumes | 0.6-1.1 mm, ovate-triangular; upper glumes and lower lemmas exceeding the upper florets by about 0.2 mm before flowering, subequal in fruit, slightly pointed at maturity, upper florets 1.7-2.3 mm, ovoid-ellipsoid, minutely umbonate. |
usually 1/4 - 1/2 as long as the spikelets, obtuse to acute; upper glumes and lower lemmas subequal, equaling the upper florets at maturity, or occasionally the upper glumes slightly shorter, not strongly veined; lower florets sterile; upper florets 1.1-1.7 mm long, 0.6-1 mm wide, ellipsoid, obtuse to acute or minutely umbonate or apiculate. |
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Basal | rosettes poorly differentiated; blades similar in shape to the lower cauline blades, narrow, ascending. |
rosettes usually well-differentiated; blades ovate to lanceolate. |
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Primary | panicles 4-10 cm long, 2-6 cm wide, long-exserted, with 12-70 spikelets; branches and pedicels spreading. |
panicles 3-12 cm, 1/4 - 3/4 as wide as long, usually open, well-exserted, rather dense; rachises glabrous, puberulent, or more or less densely pilose, at least basally. |
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2n | = 18. |
= 18. |
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Dichanthelium linearifolium |
Dichanthelium acuminatum |
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Distribution |
AL; AR; CO; CT; DC; DE; FL; GA; IA; IL; IN; KS; KY; LA; MA; MD; ME; MI; MN; MO; MS; NC; ND; NE; NH; NJ; NM; NY; OH; OK; PA; RI; SD; TN; TX; VA; VT; WI; WV; WY; MB; NB; NS; ON; QC; SK
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AL; AR; AZ; CA; CO; CT; DC; DE; FL; GA; IA; ID; IL; IN; KS; KY; LA; MA; MD; ME; MI; MN; MO; MS; MT; NC; ND; NE; NH; NJ; NM; NV; NY; OH; OK; OR; PA; RI; SC; SD; TN; TX; UT; VA; VT; WA; WI; WV; WY; HI; PR; AB; BC; MB; NB; NS; ON; PE; QC; SK
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Discussion | Dichanthelium linearifolium grows in dry, open woodlands, rock outcroppings, and sandy areas. It is restricted to the Flora region. The primary panicles are briefly open-pollinated, produced from May to early June; the secondary panicles are cleistogamous, produced from late June through July (rarely in fall). Plants in the northern United States and Canada tend to be shorter and more spreading, subglabrous, and to have spikelets 2-2.6 mm long; they have been called Panicum werneri Scribn., but do not merit taxonomic recognition. In the southwestern part of its range, especially in the Ozarks, most plants of D. linearifolium are tall, erect, densely pilose, with very elongated blades and spikelets often 2.6-3 mm long; they may hybridize with D. perlongum. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Dichanthelium acuminatum is common and ubiquitous in dry to wet, open, sandy or clayey woods, clearings, bogs, and swamps, or in saline soil near hot springs, growing in much of the Flora region and extending into northern South America. It is probably the most polymorphic and troublesome species in the genus. The treatment presented here attempts to delimit the major variants present, but does not fully reflect the intricate reticulate pattern of morphological variation that exists. There is considerable overlap among the nine subspecies recognized and, in addition, there appears to be widespread introgression from other Dichanthelium species, such as D. dichotomum, D. sphaerocarpon, D. ovale, and D. aciculare into the D. acuminatum complex, contributing to the taxonomic difficulties. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Key |
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Source | FNA vol. 25, p. 449. | FNA vol. 25, p. 422. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Parent taxa | Poaceae > subfam. Panicoideae > tribe Paniceae > Dichanthelium > sect. Linearifolia | Poaceae > subfam. Panicoideae > tribe Paniceae > Dichanthelium > sect. Lanuginosa | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sibling taxa | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Subordinate taxa | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Synonyms | Panicum werneri, Panicum linearifolium var. werneri, Panicum linearifolium | Panicum acuminatum, Panicum lanuginosum | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Name authority | (Scribn.) Gould | (Sw) Gould & C.A. Clark | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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