Panicum amarum
Panicum sect. Repentia
bitter beachgrass, bitter panicgrass, bitter panicum
20-250 cm tall, 3-10 mm thick, erect or decumbent, simple or branched from the lower nodes;
nodes glabrous;
internodes glabrous, glaucous.
20-300 cm, erect, firm, terete, often 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.
glabrous or pilose;
ligules 0.5-6 mm, membranous, ciliate;
blades linear (sometimes involute), firm.
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.
open or contracted.
4-7.7 mm long, 1.5-2 mm wide, narrowly ovoid, glabrous, acuminate;
lower florets staminate.
lanceoloid, glabrous, acute to acuminate.
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 about 1/4 - 2/3 as long as the spikelets, 1-7-veined, usually acute or truncate, sometimes acuminate;
upper glumes and lower lemmas unequal, stiffly pointed, upper glumes often exceeding the lower lemmas, the two often separating (gaping) beyond the florets;
lower florets staminate;
lower paleas well-developed;
upper florets smooth, shiny, often pointed.
= 36, 54.
Panicum amarum
Panicum sect. Repentia
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.)
There are approximately 12 species of Panicum sect. Repentia in the Western Hemisphere, four of which grow in the Flora region. The species generally inhabit wet sites, growing on coastal dunes, sea beaches or along the margins of rivers.
(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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