Dichanthelium linearifolium
Dichanthelium malacophyllum
linear-leaf panicgrass, linear-leaf rosette-panicgrass, panic à feuilles linéaires, slim-leaf rosette grass, slimleaf panicgrass, slimleaf panicum
soft-leaf panicgrass, softleaf rosette grass
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.
20-70 cm, usually 1-2 mm thick, erect;
nodes retrorsely bearded;
internodes puberulent and densely pubescent with soft, spreading to retrorse hairs, hairs papillose-based, papillae small;
fall phase branching from the mid- and upper culm nodes, ultimately much rebranched, with short, bushy clumps of blades and small, included secondary panicles, this branching beginning before the the primary panicles are exserted.
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.
5-6;
sheaths not overlapping, pubescence not as dense as on the culms;
collars puberulent;
ligules 0.5-1 mm, of hairs, bases of the hairs forming a thickened ring, pseudoligules of 1-3 mm hairs also present;
blades 5-10 cm long, 6-12 mm wide, lax, both surfaces velvety pubescent, with 9 or 11 major veins, these only slightly more prominent than the minor veins, bases rounded, margins ciliate.
2-3.2 mm long, 0.8-1.4 mm wide, ellipsoid, not turgid, sparsely pubescent.
2.5-3.2 mm long, 1.5-1.6 mm wide, broadly ellipsoid-obovoid, turgid, with papillose-based hairs, sometimes pilose.
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.
1-1.6 mm, strongly veined, acute;
upper glumes strongly veined, often purplish, especially towards the bases;
lower florets sterile;
upper florets minutely umbonate.
rosettes poorly differentiated;
blades similar in shape to the lower cauline blades, narrow, ascending.
rosettes well-differentiated;
blades 2-4 cm, ovate to lanceolate.
panicles 4-10 cm long, 2-6 cm wide, long-exserted, with 12-70 spikelets;
branches and pedicels spreading.
panicles 3-7 cm long, 2-5 cm wide, tardily and shortly exserted;
rachises and branches densely pubescent.
= 18.
= 18.
Dichanthelium linearifolium
Dichanthelium malacophyllum
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 malacophyllum usually grows in cedar glades, on dry limestone soils. It is restricted to the United States. The primary panicles are briefly open-pollinated from late May to early June; the secondary panicles, which are produced from June to November, are cleistogamous. The species occasionally intergrades, and perhaps hybridizes, with D. oligosanthes and D. acuminatum.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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