Panicum flexile |
Panicum gymnocarpon |
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panic flexible, wiry panic grass, wiry witch grass |
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Habit | Plants annual; delicate, green or yellow-green. | Plants perennial; forming extensive colonies by their long, decumbent, sprawling basal branches and stolons. |
Culms | 10-75 cm, about 1 mm thick, simple or with erect basal branches; nodes densely pilose, hairs ascending; internodes glabrous or shortly pubescent distally. |
60-130 cm, thick, glabrous, rooting profusely at the lower nodes; nodes glabrous, often with a dark green band. |
Sheaths | longer than the internodes, green to purplish, hispid, margins sparsely ciliate; ligules 0.5-1.5 mm; blades 3-32 cm long, 1-7 mm wide, ascending to erect, linear, narrowing basally, flat or the margins involute, surfaces sparsely hirsute or pilose (rarely glabrous), hairs near the base papillose-based, margins prominent, apices acute. |
usually shorter than the internodes, glabrous, prominently veined; ligules 0.5-1.5 mm; blades 15-40 cm long, 7-25 mm wide, tapering from midlength, flat, both surfaces glabrous, bases subcordate, margins scabrous to smooth, widest at the base, apices acute. |
Panicles | 5-45 cm long, 1-6 cm wide, at least 1/2 as long as the plants and 3 times longer than wide, open; rachises glabrous; primary branches usually alternate or subopposite, ascending to slightly divergent, secondary branches and pedicels attached to the distal 2/3; secondary branches diverging; pedicels 0.5-17 mm, ascending to appressed. |
10-40 cm long, 7-20 cm wide, open, with straight, rigid rachises; branches whorled, stiffly ascending, with short, appressed, higher order branches; ultimate branchlets 1-sided, with solitary spikelets or small clusters of spikelets; pedicels 0.1-1.5 mm. |
Spikelets | 2.5 - 3.7 mm long, 0.6-1.1 mm wide, narrowly ovoid, glabrous, acute; lower glumes 0.8-1.3 mm, 1/3 – 1/2 as long as the spikelets, acuminate; upper glumes 2.3-3.3 mm, 7-9-veined, exceeding the upper florets by about 0.6 mm; lower florets sterile; lower lemmas 2.2-2.7 mm, exceeding the upper florets by about 0.6 mm, 7- or 9-veined, apices scabridulous, pointed; lower paleas absent; upper florets 1.6-1.7 mm long, about 0.6 mm wide, usually smooth, usually pale, sometimes becoming dark at maturity. |
5.5-7 mm long, about 1 mm wide, narrowly lanceoloid, glabrous. |
Glumes | spreading apart at maturity, keeled, prominently veined, scabrous along the midveins; lower glumes nearly as long as the lower lemmas; upper glumes and lower lemmas 3-veined, spreading, greatly exceeding the upper florets, lower lemmas longer than the upper glumes, arcuate; lower florets sterile; lower paleas thin; upper florets 1.9-2.2 mm, less than 1/3 as long as the spikelets, obovoid, lustrous, pale to brownish, acute, often short-stipitate. |
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2n | = 18. |
= 40. |
Panicum flexile |
Panicum gymnocarpon |
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Distribution |
AL; AR; CT; DC; FL; GA; IA; IL; IN; KS; KY; LA; MA; MD; MI; MN; MO; MS; NC; ND; NJ; NY; OH; OK; PA; SC; SD; TN; TX; UT; VA; VT; WI; WV; ON; QC
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Discussion | Panicum flexile grows in fens and other calcareous wetlands, in dry, calcareous or mafic rock barrens, and in open woodlands, especially on limestone derived soils. It is restricted to the Flora region. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Panicum gymnocarpon grows in swamps, wet woodlands, and the marshy shores of lakes and streams. It is also found occasionally in shallow water, often in the shade. It is restricted to the United States. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 25, p. 460. | FNA vol. 25, p. 485. |
Parent taxa | Poaceae > subfam. Panicoideae > tribe Paniceae > Panicum > subg. Panicum > sect. Panicum | Poaceae > subfam. Panicoideae > tribe Paniceae > Panicum > subg. Phanopyrum > sect. Phanopyrum |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | Phanopyrum gymnocarpon | |
Name authority | (Gatt.) Scribn. | Elliott |
Web links |