Dichanthelium strigosum
Dichanthelium depauperatum
cushion-tuft panicgrass, roughhair rosette grass
panic appauvri, starved panic grass, starved rosette-panicgrass
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.
10-45 cm, erect to spreading, lower 4-10 internodes telescoped together, less than 2 cm, upper 2 internodes elongated;
nodes bearded;
internodes pubescent to subglabrous;
fall phase a dense mass of erect blades and foreshortened branches that arise from the basal culm nodes, about 54 of the branches sterile, others with small, narrow, secondary panicles of 3-7 spikelets that remain enclosed within the sheaths.
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.
2-4;
sheaths longer than the internodes, glabrous or densely ascending-pilose;
ligules about 0.5 mm;
blades 6-15 cm long, 1-4 mm wide, green to grayish-green, sometimes involute, glabrous or densely pilose, apices long-tapering, lower blades small to vestigial, upper 2 or 3 blades longer and stiffly erect.
1.1-2.1 mm, obovoid to broadly ellipsoid, glabrous or pubescent, hairs not papillose-based.
3.2-4.3 mm long, 1-1.7 mm wide, ellipsoid-pointed, glabrous or finely pubescent.
1/3 - 1/2 as long as the spikelets, acute to obtuse;
upper florets 0.8-1.7 mm, ellipsoid, subacute.
1.2-1.6 mm, narrowly triangular;
upper glumes and lower lemmas exceeding the upper florets by 0.2-1 mm, forming a pointed beak, upper florets 1.9-3.1 mm, obovoid, minutely umbonate.
rosettes poorly differentiated;
blades 1-5 cm, lanceolate, grading into the cauline blades.
rosettes poorly differentiated;
blades similar in shape to the lower cauline blades, narrow, ascending.
panicles short- to long-exserted;
rachises and branches often pilose.
panicles 3-6 cm long, 1.5-3 cm wide, usually long-exserted (sometimes contracted and remaining basal), with 7-25 spikelets.
= 18.
Dichanthelium strigosum
Dichanthelium depauperatum
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.)
Dichanthelium depauperatum grows in dry, open woodlands and open, disturbed areas, especially on sand. It is restricted to the Flora region. The primary panicles, which are rarely open-pollinated, are produced from May to early June; the secondary, cleistogamous panicles are produced from late June through July (rarely in fall). The species is linked with D. perlongum and D. linearifolium by occasional hybrids and hybrid derivatives. In the northern United States and Canada, 80-90% of the plants are glabrous and have been called Panicum depauperatum var. psilophyllum Fernald, P. depauperatum var. involutum (Torr.) Alph. Wood, or, if the primary panicles remain near the base, P. depauperatum forma cryptostachys Fernald; in this treatment, none of these is recognized as a distinct taxonomic entity. The frequency of pilose plants increases southward, where some populations are entirely pilose.
(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 |
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