Panicum amarum
Panicum bulbosum
bitter beachgrass, bitter panicgrass, bitter panicum
bulb panicgrass
20-250 cm tall, 3-10 mm thick, erect or decumbent, simple or branched from the lower nodes;
nodes glabrous;
internodes glabrous, glaucous.
50-200 cm tall, 2-3(5) mm thick, with cormlike bases, slightly compressed, erect or geniculate at the lower nodes;
nodes glabrous or pilose;
internodes slightly compressed, glabrous.
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.
longer or shorter than the internodes, keeled, glabrous or pilose, hairs papillose-based near the throat;
ligules 0.5-2 mm, membranous, dissected ciliate;
blades (6)20-65 cm long, 2-15 mm wide, flat, adaxial surfaces glabrous or densely pubescent, particularly basally, occasionally pubescent on both surfaces, hairs papillose-based, bases subcordate to rounded.
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.
9-50 cm long, 1.5-12 cm wide, open;
branches opposite and alternate, straight or flexible, strongly ascending to reflexed;
pedicels 0.5-5 mm, scabridulous, divergent.
4-7.7 mm long, 1.5-2 mm wide, narrowly ovoid, glabrous, acuminate;
lower florets staminate.
2.8-4.2(5.4) mm long, 1-2 mm wide, ellipsoid or lanceoloid, often purplish, glabrous, acute or obtuse.
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 1.2-3.5 mm, 1/2 - 4/5 as long as the spikelets, 3-5-veined;
upper glumes often longer than the lower lemmas, glabrous, 5-7-veined;
lower florets sterile or staminate;
lower lemmas glabrous;
lower paleas 3-4 mm, sometimes longer than the lower lemmas;
upper florets 3-4 mm long, 1-1.5 mm wide, equaling or surpassing the lower lemmas, dull, pale, finely transversely rugose, lemma apices puberulent.
= 36, 54.
= 36, 54, 70, 72.
Panicum amarum
Panicum bulbosum
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 bulbosum grows on gravelly river banks and moist mountain slopes, often in ponderosa pine woodlands, from southern Nevada and Arizona to western Texas and central Mexico. It is an important forage grass and is sometimes cut for hay. Flowering is from July to mid-October. Small plants have been called P. bulbosum var. sciaphilum (Rupr. ex E. Fourn.) Hitchc. & Chase or P. bulbosum var. minor Vasey, but size and other characters integrade completely.
(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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