Panicum amarum
Panicum antidotale
bitter beachgrass, bitter panicgrass, bitter panicum
blue panic, blue panic grass, blue panicum
20-250 cm tall, 3-10 mm thick, erect or decumbent, simple or branched from the lower nodes;
nodes glabrous;
internodes glabrous, glaucous.
50-300 cm tall, 2-4 mm thick, often compressed, erect or ascending, hard, becoming almost woody;
nodes swollen, glabrous or pubescent;
internodes glabrous, glaucous.
shorter or longer than the internodes, not keeled, glabrous;
collars often glaucous and purplish;
ligules 1-5 mm;
blades 7-50 cm long, 2-13 mm wide, erect or ascending, firm, thick, flat basally, more or less involute towards the apices.
not keeled, shorter than or equal to the internodes, glabrous or the lower sheaths at least partially pubescent, hairs papillose-based;
ligules 0.3-1.5 mm;
blades 10-60 cm long, 3-20 mm wide, elongate, flat, abaxial surfaces and margins scabrous, adaxial surfaces occasionally pubescent near the base, with prominent, white midveins, bases rounded to narrowed.
10-80 cm long, 2-17 cm wide, contracted, slightly nodding;
primary branches whorled or opposite, strongly ascending to appressed;
pedicels 0.5-15 mm, appressed to slightly divergent.
10-45 cm, to 1/2 as wide as long, open or somewhat contracted, with many spikelets;
branches 4-12 cm, opposite or alternate, ascending to spreading;
pedicels 0.3-2.5 mm, scabridulous to scabrous, appressed to diverging less than 45° from the branch axes.
4-7.7 mm long, 1.5-2 mm wide, narrowly ovoid, glabrous, acuminate;
lower florets staminate.
2.4-3.4 mm long, 1-1.3 mm wide, ellipsoid-lanceoloid to narrowly ovoid, often purplish, glabrous, acute.
and lower lemmas relatively thick;
lower glumes 2.8-4 mm, 1/2 - 4/5 as long as the spikelets, 3-9-veined, apices of the midveins sometimes scabridulous;
upper glumes and lower lemmas extending 1.5-3 mm beyond the upper florets, apices stiffly gaping;
upper glumes 3.9-7.6 mm, 5-9-veined;
lower lemmas slightly shorter than the upper glumes, 7-9-veined, lower paleas 3-7 mm, oblong-hastate, folded over the anthers;
lower florets staminate;
upper florets 2.4-3.9 mm long, 1-1.8 mm wide, narrowly ovoid to oblong, glabrous, smooth, shiny, lemma margins clasping the paleas only at the base.
glumes 1.4-2.2 mm, 1/3 – 1/2 as long as the spikelets, 3-5-veined, obtuse;
upper glumes and lower lemmas subequal, glabrous, 5-9-veined, margins scarious, acute;
lower florets staminate;
upper florets 1.8-2.8 mm long, 0.9-1.1 mm wide, smooth, lustrous, acute.
= 36, 54.
= 18, 36.
Panicum amarum
Panicum antidotale
Panicum amarum grows in the coastal dunes, wet sandy soils, and the margins of swamps, along the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico from Connecticut to northeastern Mexico. It is also known, as an introduction, from a few inland locations in New Mexico, North Carolina, and West Virginia, as well as in the Bahamas and Cuba.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Panicum antidotale is native to India. It is grown in the Flora region as a forage grass, primarily in the southwestern United States. It is now established in the region, being found in open, disturbed areas and fields.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
1. Rhizomes short or ascending; culms often bunched and decumbent, usually more than 120 cm tall; lower glumes with 3-5 less evident veins, the midvein smooth distally; spikelet density high; panicles with 2 or more main branches per node; spikelets 4-5.9 mm long | subsp. amarulum |
1. Rhizomes horizontally elongate; culms mostly solitary, less than 150 cm tall; lower glumes with 7-9 prominent veins, the midvein scabridulous distally; spikelet density moderate; panicles with 1 or 2 main branches per node; spikelets 4.7-7.7 mm long | subsp. amarum |
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