Dichanthelium strigosum
Dichanthelium wrightianum
cushion-tuft panicgrass, roughhair rosette grass
Wright's panicgrass, Wright's rosette grass, Wright's 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.
15-50 cm tall (rarely taller), 0.3-0.8 mm thick, delicate, erect or ascending;
nodes slightly swollen, often purplish or darker green than the internodes;
internodes usually puberulent;
fall phase branching profusely from the lower and midculm nodes, secondary branches and secondary panicles numerous, usually not greatly reduced.
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.
4-7;
sheaths mostly puberulent or glabrous, margins finely ciliate;
ligules 1.5-3 mm, of hairs;
blades 2-4.5 cm long, 2-5 mm wide, ascending or spreading, occasionally involute, finely appressed-pilose adaxially, puberulent abaxially, bases rounded, margins finely whitish-scabridulous.
1.1-2.1 mm, obovoid to broadly ellipsoid, glabrous or pubescent, hairs not papillose-based.
0.8-1.1 mm, ellipsoid to nearly ovoid, often purplish, puberulent or subglabrous, obtuse or subacute.
1/3 - 1/2 as long as the spikelets, acute to obtuse;
upper florets 0.8-1.7 mm, ellipsoid, subacute.
1/4 - 1/3 as long as the spikelets, subacute;
upper glumes shorter than the lower lemmas;
lower florets sterile;
upper florets 0.7-0.9 mm, ellipsoid, subacute.
rosettes poorly differentiated;
blades 1-5 cm, lanceolate, grading into the cauline blades.
rosettes well-differentiated;
blades ovate to lanceolate.
panicles short- to long-exserted;
rachises and branches often pilose.
panicles 2.5-5.5 cm, 1/3 – 2/3 as wide as long, well-exserted;
rachises and branches glabrous or sparsely puberulent (at least basally); ultimate branchlets and pedicels glabrous, somewhat viscid.
= 18.
Dichanthelium strigosum
Dichanthelium wrightianum
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 wrightianum grows in moist, sandy or peaty areas, low pine savannahs, bogs, the margins of ponds, and cypress swamps, in the coastal plain from Massachusetts to Texas and Florida, extending to Cuba, Mexico, Central America, and northern South America. Occasional specimens of Dichanthelium wrightianum, particularly those with subglabrous spikelets, closely resemble D. chamaelonche. Others suggest D. ensifolium, and a few unusually robust specimens closely approach D. acuminatum subsp. longiligulatum. All of these taxa often grow together in the same habitats.
(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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