Dichanthelium linearifolium
Dichanthelium strigosum
linear-leaf panicgrass, linear-leaf rosette-panicgrass, panic à feuilles linéaires, slim-leaf rosette grass, slimleaf panicgrass, slimleaf panicum
cushion-tuft panicgrass, roughhair 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.
5-45 cm, slender, erect or spreading;
from a dense tuft of predominantly basal leaves, lower internodes short, upper 3-5 internodes elongate;
nodes glabrous or bearded;
internodes glabrous or pilose;
fall phase with spreading culms and branches arising from near the bases forming a dense, flat tuft.
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.
2-4;
lower cauline sheaths longer than the internodes, mostly glabrous or pilose with ascending hairs, margins finely ciliate;
ligules 0.2-2 mm, at low magnification appearing to be membranous and ciliate, at high magnification evidently of hairs that are coherent at the base;
blades 1.5-6 cm long, 3-8 mm wide, lanceolate, glabrous or softly pilose, margins with prominent papillose-based cilia, at least basally.
2-3.2 mm long, 0.8-1.4 mm wide, ellipsoid, not turgid, sparsely pubescent.
1.1-2.1 mm, obovoid to broadly ellipsoid, glabrous or pubescent, hairs not papillose-based.
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.
1/3 - 1/2 as long as the spikelets, acute to obtuse;
upper florets 0.8-1.7 mm, ellipsoid, subacute.
rosettes poorly differentiated;
blades similar in shape to the lower cauline blades, narrow, ascending.
rosettes poorly differentiated;
blades 1-5 cm, lanceolate, grading into the cauline blades.
panicles 4-10 cm long, 2-6 cm wide, long-exserted, with 12-70 spikelets;
branches and pedicels spreading.
panicles short- to long-exserted;
rachises and branches often pilose.
= 18.
Dichanthelium linearifolium
Dichanthelium strigosum
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 strigosum extends from the southeastern Flora region south into Mexico, the Caribbean, and into northern South America.
The primary panicles are briefly open-pollinated in April or May; the secondary panicles, which are produced from May through November, are cleistogamous. The three subspecies are mostly sympatric and sometimes grow together, with occasional intergradation.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
1. Spikelets pubescent, broadly ellipsoid, 1.6-2.1 mm long; lower glumes about 1/2 as long as the spikelets; blades glabrous | subsp. leucoblepharis |
1. Spikelets glabrous, obovoid, 1.1-1.8 mm long; lower glumes about 1/3 as long as the spikelets; blades pilose or glabrous. | → 2 |
2. Blades pilose; spikelets 1.1-1.6 mm long | subsp. strigosum |
2. Blades glabrous or sparsely pilose near the base; spikelets 1.4-1.8 mm long | subsp. glabrescens |
Go Botany
IL Wildflowers
KS Wildflowers
LA Plants
MD Biodiversity
MI Flora
MN Wildflowers
MO Plants
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
