Panicum amarum
Panicum coloratum
bitter beachgrass, bitter panicgrass, bitter panicum
kleingrass
20-250 cm tall, 3-10 mm thick, erect or decumbent, simple or branched from the lower nodes;
nodes glabrous;
internodes glabrous, glaucous.
50-140 cm tall, 1.5-2.5 mm thick, usually erect, rarely decumbent, firm;
nodes glabrous or puberulent;
internodes 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.
shorter than the internodes, glabrous or hispid, hairs papillose-based, rounded basally;
ligules 0.5-2 mm;
blades 10-30 cm long, 2-8 mm wide, flat, glabrous or sparsely hirsute on 1 or both surfaces.
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.
4-25(40) cm long, 3-14 cm wide, exerted, lax;
primary branches 3-14 cm, opposite and alternate, ascending, glabrous, branching in the distal M;
pedicels 1-4 mm, appressed or spreading.
4-7.7 mm long, 1.5-2 mm wide, narrowly ovoid, glabrous, acuminate;
lower florets staminate.
2.5-3.5 mm long, 1-1.2 mm wide, narrowly ovoid to ellipsoid, 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 1-1.5 mm, about 1/3 as long as the spikelets, glabrous, 1-3-veined, acute;
upper glumes slightly exceeding the lower lemmas, glabrous, acute, scarcely separated from the lower lemmas;
lower florets staminate;
lower lemmas similar to the upper glumes;
lower paleas 2-3 mm, oblong;
upper florets 2-2.5 mm long, 0.8-1 mm wide, ellipsoid, widest below the middle, glabrous, smooth, shiny, apices lightly beaked.
= 36, 54.
= 18, 36, 41, 42, 43, 45, 54, 63 (United States material apparently usually tetraploid, with 2n = 36).
Panicum amarum
Panicum coloratum
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 coloratum is an African species that has been widely introduced into tropical and subtropical regions around the world. It is now established in the Flora region, growing in open, usually wet ground; it is also occasionally cultivated as a forage grass.
(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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