Panicum bergii |
Panicum miliaceum |
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Berg's panicgrass, Bergs witchgrass |
broom-corn millet, broomcorn, hog millet, millet, millet commun, panic millet, proso millet |
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Habit | Plants perennial; cespitose, with numerous leaves clustered at the base. | Plants annual; sometimes branching from the lower nodes. | ||||
Culms | (10)50-140 cm, stout, stiffly erect, branched from the middle and lower nodes; lower nodes sericeous; lower internodes sericeous, hairs papillose-based, upper internodes sometimes glabrous. |
20-210 cm, stout, not woody; nodes puberulent; internodes usually with papillose-based hairs, sometimes nearly glabrous, not succulent. |
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Sheaths | rounded, glabrous or sparsely to densely hispid, hairs not fragile and prickly, not causing skin irritation, margins ciliate; ligules 1-3 mm; blades 3-60 cm long, 2-12 mm wide, flat or involute, ascending, adaxial surfaces densely hirsute basally, less densely so elsewhere, bases attenuate, apices acute. |
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Leaves | numerous; sheaths terete, densely pilose, with papillose-based and caducous hairs; ligules membranous, ciliate, cilia 1-3 mm; blades 15-40 cm long, 7-25 mm wide. |
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Panicles | (4)15-40 cm long, (3)10-25 cm wide, about 1/3 – 1/2 as long as the plants, open, breaking at the base of the peduncles at maturity and dispersed as tumbleweeds, secondary branching mostly confined to the distal 1/3 of the primary branches; rachises densely hispid or glabrous; lower primary branches in whorls of 4-7, stiffly spreading, naked on the lower 1/2; pedicels 3-20 mm, appressed. |
6-20 cm long, 4-11 cm wide, included or shortly exserted at maturity, dense; branches stiff, appressed to spreading, spikelets solitary, confined to the distal portions; pedicels 1-9 mm, scabrous and sparsely pilose. |
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Spikelets | 2-3 mm long, 0.8-1.2 mm wide, glabrous. |
4-6 mm, ovoid, usually glabrous. |
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Lower glumes | 1-1.6 mm, 5-veined, acuminate; upper glumes and lower lemmas similar, 2-2.8 mm, 7-9-veined, exceeding the upper florets by about 0.3 mm; lower florets sterile; lower paleas 1.4-2.2 mm; upper florets 1.5-1.9 mm long, 0.7-1 mm wide, smooth, chestnut brown at maturity. |
2.8-3.6 mm, 1/2 - 3/4 as long as the spikelets, 5-7-veined, veins scabridulous distally, apices attenuate; upper glumes 4-5.1 mm, slightly exceeding the upper florets, 11-13(15)-veined, veins scabridulous distally; lower florets sterile; lower lemmas 4-4.8 mm, slightly exceeding the upper florets, 9-13-veined, veins scabridulous distally; lower paleas 1.2-1.6 mm, 1/2 or less the length of the upper florets, truncate to bilobed; upper florets 3-3.8 mm long, 2-2.5 mm wide, smooth or striate, more or less shiny, stramineous to orange, red-brown, or blackish, persisting in the spikelets or disarticulating at maturity. |
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2n | = 36. |
= 36, 40, 42, 49, 54, 72. |
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Panicum bergii |
Panicum miliaceum |
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Distribution |
AL; GA; LA; TX |
AL; AZ; CA; CO; CT; DC; DE; FL; GA; IA; ID; IL; IN; KS; KY; LA; MA; MD; ME; MI; MN; MO; MS; MT; NC; ND; NE; NH; NJ; NM; NV; NY; OH; OR; PA; RI; SD; TN; TX; UT; VA; VT; WA; WI; WY; HI; PR; AB; BC; LB; MB; NB; NS; ON; PE; QC; SK; Virgin Islands
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Discussion | Panicum bergii is an eastern South American species that now grows in southeastern Texas. It occurs in ditches and shallow, and sporadically flooded depressions in grasslands. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Panicum miliaceum is native to Asia, where it has been cultivated for thousands of years. In the Flora region, it is grown for bird seed and is occasionally planted for game birds. It is also found in corn fields and along roadsides. In Asia, P. miliaceum is still grown for fodder and as a cereal, its fast germination and short growth period enabling it to be sown following a spring crop. It also has one of the lowest water requirements of any cereal grain. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Key |
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Source | FNA vol. 25, p. 464. | FNA vol. 25, p. 456. | ||||
Parent taxa | Poaceae > subfam. Panicoideae > tribe Paniceae > Panicum > subg. Panicum > sect. Panicum | Poaceae > subfam. Panicoideae > tribe Paniceae > Panicum > subg. Panicum > sect. Panicum | ||||
Sibling taxa | ||||||
Subordinate taxa | ||||||
Synonyms | P. pilocomayense | |||||
Name authority | Arechav. | L. | ||||
Web links |
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