Panicum flexile |
Panicum mohavense |
|
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panic flexible, wiry panic grass, wiry witch grass |
Mohave witchgrass, Mojave panicgrass |
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Habit | Plants annual; delicate, green or yellow-green. | Plants annual. |
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. |
2-8 cm, erect-spreading; nodes 1-2, hispid; internodes pilose, hairs papillose-based. |
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. |
rounded, much longer than the internodes, with prominent veins, hispid, hairs papillose-based; ligules 0.2-0.4 mm, membranous, ciliate; blades 1-4 cm long, 1-3 mm wide, flat or involute apically, glabrous basally, margins ciliate, cilia papillose-based. |
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. |
congested, partially included in the sheaths, less than 1.5 times longer than wide; branches ascending, narrow; primary branches appressed to the main axes, secondary branches and pedicels attached to the distal 2/3; pedicels appressed, 1-2 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. |
2-2.2 mm long, 1-1.3 mm wide, plump-ellipsoid, glabrous. |
Lower glumes | 1.2-1.3 mm, acute to attenuate; upper glumes and lower lemmas 2-2.2 mm, 7-9-veined, apices purplish, acute; lower florets sterile; lower paleas 0.2-0.4 mm; upper florets 1.4-1.8 mm long, about 1 mm wide, broadly ovoid. |
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2n | = 18. |
|
Panicum flexile |
Panicum mohavense |
|
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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AZ; NM |
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 mohavense is known only from arid limestone terraces in Arizona and New Mexico. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 25, p. 460. | FNA vol. 25, p. 462. |
Parent taxa | Poaceae > subfam. Panicoideae > tribe Paniceae > Panicum > subg. Panicum > sect. Panicum | Poaceae > subfam. Panicoideae > tribe Paniceae > Panicum > subg. Panicum > sect. Panicum |
Sibling taxa | ||
Name authority | (Gatt.) Scribn. | Reeder |
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