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prairie panicgrass

warty panicgrass

Habit Plants annual; weak, ascending or spreading. Plants annual; weak, ascending or sprawling.
Culms

slender, wiry, glabrous, often with minute purple streaks and dots, ascending from a decumbent base, often branching extensively at the base and rooting at the lower nodes.

10-150 cm, slender, wiry, erect at first, ultimately decumbent, sprawling, glabrous, often with purple dots and streaks, branching extensively at the base, rooting at the lower nodes.

Sheaths

usually shorter than the internodes, glabrous, margins short-ciliate;

ligules usually less than 0.3 mm, membranous, erose, ciliate;

blades 4-15 cm long (rarely longer), 2-3 mm wide, flat or slightly involute, glabrous on both surfaces, margins scabridulous, especially towards the apices, bases narrowed.

often shorter than the internodes, loose, glabrous, margins short-ciliate;

ligules 0.2-0.5 mm, membranous, erose, ciliate;

blades 5-20 cm long, 3-10 mm wide, thin, flat, glabrous on both surfaces, margins scabridulous, apices long-acuminate.

Panicles

4-17 cm, 1/2 to nearly as wide as long;

branches few, capillary, ascending or spreading, scabridulous, with a few spikelets distally;

pedicels 0.5-10 mm.

5-30 cm, nearly as wide as long;

branches few, capillary, with a few spikelets distally;

pedicels 0.5-10 mm.

Spikelets

3.2-4 mm long, about 1.5 mm wide, broadly ellipsoid or obovoid, tuberculate, hispid, faintly veined, acute or acuminate at the apices.

1.7-2.2 mm long, about 1 mm wide, ellipsoid or obovoid, glabrous, faintly veined, subacute or obtuse at the apices.

Lower glumes

usually less than 1 mm, obtuse or acute;

upper glumes and lower lemmas subequal, distinctly tuberculate, hispid, with stiff hairs arising from wartlike bases;

upper florets 2.7-3.2 mm long, 1.3-1.6 mm wide, obovoid or ellipsoid, nearly smooth, minutely papillose, or cross-rugulose, subacute to acute.

0.3-0.8 mm, reduced, acute;

upper glumes and lower lemmas subequal or the glumes shorter, distinctly verrucose, with hemispheric warts;

upper florets 1.6-2 mm long, about 1 mm wide, grayish-brown, dull, minutely papillose, acute.

2n

= unknown.

= 36.

Panicum brachyanthum

Panicum verrucosum

Distribution
from FNA
AR; LA; MS; OK; TX
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AL; AR; CT; DC; DE; FL; GA; IL; IN; KY; LA; MA; MD; MI; MO; MS; NC; NJ; NY; OH; OK; PA; RI; SC; TN; TX; VA; WV
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Panicum brachyanthum grows in dry, sandy or clayey soils of open areas, remnant prairies, woodland borders, and roadsides and, less commonly, along the margins of bogs and on grassy shores in the western portion of the gulf coast plain. It is restricted to the southern United States. It resembles P. verrucosum in its growth habit, but is more restricted in its distribution.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Panicum verrucosum grows primarily in open, moist or wet sandy areas bordering swamps, marshes, or lakes or on roadside ditches; it also grows occasionally in open, drier woodlands. It is restricted to the eastern United States and is mostly, but not exclusively, coastal.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Source FNA vol. 25, p. 487. FNA vol. 25, p. 487.
Parent taxa Poaceae > subfam. Panicoideae > tribe Paniceae > Panicum > subg. Phanopyrum > sect. Verrucosa Poaceae > subfam. Panicoideae > tribe Paniceae > Panicum > subg. Phanopyrum > sect. Verrucosa
Sibling taxa
P. amarum, P. anceps, P. antidotale, P. bergii, P. bisulcatum, P. bulbosum, P. capillare, P. capillarioides, P. coloratum, P. dichotomiflorum, P. diffusum, P. flexile, P. ghiesbreghtii, P. gymnocarpon, P. hallii, P. hemitomon, P. hirsutum, P. hirticaule, P. lacustre, P. miliaceum, P. mohavense, P. obtusum, P. paludosum, P. philadelphicum, P. plenum, P. psilopodium, P. repens, P. rigidulum, P. tenerum, P. trichoides, P. urvilleanum, P. verrucosum, P. virgatum
P. amarum, P. anceps, P. antidotale, P. bergii, P. bisulcatum, P. brachyanthum, P. bulbosum, P. capillare, P. capillarioides, P. coloratum, P. dichotomiflorum, P. diffusum, P. flexile, P. ghiesbreghtii, P. gymnocarpon, P. hallii, P. hemitomon, P. hirsutum, P. hirticaule, P. lacustre, P. miliaceum, P. mohavense, P. obtusum, P. paludosum, P. philadelphicum, P. plenum, P. psilopodium, P. repens, P. rigidulum, P. tenerum, P. trichoides, P. urvilleanum, P. virgatum
Synonyms P. debile
Name authority Steud. Muhl.
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