Dichanthelium portoricense
Dichanthelium polyanthes
blunt-glumed panicgrass
many-flower 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.
30-95 cm, nearly erect, fairly stout;
nodes glabrous or puberulent;
internodes usually glabrous;
fall phase with few, long-ascending branches, sparingly rebranched, branches arising mostly near the base of the culms.
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.
4-7;
sheaths shorter than the internodes, mostly glabrous, margins ciliate;
ligules vestigial;
blades 10-25 cm long, 14-25 mm wide, thick, firm, often light green, veins evident (some more prominent than others), bases cordate, with papillose-based cilia, margins whitish, cartilaginous.
1.5-2.6 mm, obovoid-pyriform, planoconvex in side view, puberulent, pubescent, or glabrous, attenuate basally, apices usually broadly rounded.
1.3-1.7 mm, broadly ellipsoid-spherical, often purplish at the base, puberulent.
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.
0.4-0.7 mm, acute to obtuse, upper florets 1.1-1.4 mm, broadly ellipsoid, blunt.
rosettes well-differentiated;
blades 1.5-6 cm, ovate to lanceolate.
rosettes well-differentiated;
blades 3-8 cm long, often to 2 cm wide, ovate-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.
panicles 7-20 cm, less than 1/2 as wide as long, exserted.
= 18.
= 18.
Dichanthelium portoricense
Dichanthelium polyanthes
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 polyanthes grows in woods, stream banks, and ditches, and is restricted to the eastern United States. It occasionally hybridizes with D. sphaerocarpon.
(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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