Dichanthelium portoricense
Dichanthelium nodatum
blunt-glumed panicgrass
sarita panicgrass, sarita rosette grass
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.
20-65 cm, decumbent to ascending even in spring, with hard, cormlike bases;
nodes puberulent to sparsely pubescent;
internodes scabrous-puberulent to papillose-hirsute;
fall phase with geniculate to decumbent culms, developing divaricate branches from the midculm nodes before the primary panicles mature.
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.
8-14;
sheaths not overlapping, puberulent to papillose-hirsute, margins ciliate;
ligules 0.1-1 mm, of hairs;
blades 3-9 cm long, 4-8 mm wide, thick, firm, puberulent, sides parallel above the rounded to truncate bases, margins with papillose-based cilia.
1.5-2.6 mm, obovoid-pyriform, planoconvex in side view, puberulent, pubescent, or glabrous, attenuate basally, apices usually broadly rounded.
3.4-4.4 mm long, 1.3-1.6 mm wide, narrowly obovoid-obpyriform, finely pubescent, hairs papillose-based, bases long, narrow.
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.
1.5-2 mm, attached about 0.2 mm below the upper glumes, partly or completely encircling the pedicels;
upper glumes about 0.3 mm shorter than the upper florets, purplish at the bases;
lower florets sterile;
upper florets with pointed, puberulent apices.
rosettes well-differentiated;
blades 1.5-6 cm, ovate to lanceolate.
rosettes absent.
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.
panicles 3-13 cm long, 2-8 cm wide, exserted;
branches ascending to divaricate at maturity;
pedicels appressed.
, pers.
., 2001).
= 18.
= 18 (J.
Dichanthelium portoricense
Dichanthelium nodatum
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 nodatum grows in oak savannahs near the Gulf coast from Texas to northeastern Mexico. The primary panicles are produced from April into June (sometimes late August to November) and are at least partly open-pollinated; the secondary panicles are produced from May into fall and are at least partly cleistogamous.
(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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