Dichanthelium portoricense
Dichanthelium leibergii
blunt-glumed panicgrass
Leiberg's panicum, Leiberg's rosette grass, leibergs panicgrass
15-50 cm, slender, wiry;
internodes olive green to purplish, densely puberulent or glabrous;
fall phase spreading or decumbent, branching extensively from the lower and midculm nodes, producing numerous congested fascicles of reduced, flat or involute blades and reduced secondary panicles.
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.
4-7;
sheaths much shorter than the internodes, densely crisp-puberulent, velvety-puberulent, or glabrous, often ciliate along the margins;
ligules shorter than 0.5 mm;
blades 2-7 cm long (seldom longer), 2.5-8 mm wide (rarely wider), spreading, firm, flat or slightly involute, without prominently raised veins, not longitudinally wrinkled, densely puberulent or glabrous abaxially, glabrous, sparsely puberulent, or pubescent adaxially, bases subcordate, with papillose-based cilia, margins often whitish and scabridulous.
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.
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.
1.5-2.6 mm, obovoid-pyriform, planoconvex in side view, puberulent, pubescent, or glabrous, attenuate basally, apices usually broadly rounded.
3.3-3.8 mm long, 1.6-2 mm wide, ellipsoid-obovoid, turgid, pubescent, hairs papillose-based, apices rounded.
0.6-1.4 mm, thin, weakly-veined, attached about 0.2 mm below the upper glumes, clasping at the base;
upper glumes as long as or slightly shorter than the lower lemmas;
upper florets 1.4-2 mm, broadly ellipsoid, apices subacute, minutely puberulent.
about 1.8 mm, narrowly triangular;
lower florets staminate;
upper florets mucronate.
rosettes well-differentiated;
blades 1.5-6 cm, ovate to lanceolate.
rosettes well-differentiated;
blades few, small, ovate to lanceolate.
panicles 2-7 cm long, 2/3 to nearly as wide as long, with relatively few spikelets, exserted;
branches flexuous, spreading or reflexed, scabridulous to densely puberulent.
= 18.
= 18.
Dichanthelium portoricense
Dichanthelium leibergii
Dichanthelium portoricense grows in sandy woods, low pinelands, savannahs, and coastal sand dunes, usually in moist places. Its range extends south from the Flora region into Mexico, the Caribbean, and Mesoamerica. It is a highly variable species with numerous intergrading forms, some possibly resulting from hybridization with other widespread species in the same region, such as D. sphaerocarpon and D. commutatum.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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.)
1. Spikelets 1.8-2.6 mm long, usually densely pubescent or puberulent (rarely glabrous); cauline blades 4-7 cm long, 3.5-8 mm wide | subsp. patulum |
1. Spikelets 1.5-2.0 mm long, puberulent to nearly glabrous; cauline blades 2-5 cm long, 2.5-4.5 mm wide | subsp. portoricense |
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