Panicum flexile |
Panicum miliaceum |
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panic flexible, wiry panic grass, wiry witch grass |
broom-corn millet, broomcorn, hog millet, millet, millet commun, panic millet, proso millet |
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Habit | Plants annual; delicate, green or yellow-green. | Plants annual; sometimes branching from the lower nodes. | ||||
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. |
20-210 cm, stout, not woody; nodes puberulent; internodes usually with papillose-based hairs, sometimes nearly glabrous, not succulent. |
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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. |
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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 | 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. |
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 | 2.5 - 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. |
4-6 mm, ovoid, usually glabrous. |
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Lower glumes | 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 | = 18. |
= 36, 40, 42, 49, 54, 72. |
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Panicum flexile |
Panicum miliaceum |
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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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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 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 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. 460. | 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 | ||||||
Name authority | (Gatt.) Scribn. | L. | ||||
Web links |
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