Panicum philadelphicum
Panicum verrucosum
panic de philadelphie, Philadelphia panic grass, Philadelphia witchgrass
warty panicgrass
8-100 cm tall, about 1 mm thick, erect to decumbent, simple to profusely branched;
nodes sparsely to densely pilose.
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.
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.
often crowded basally;
sheaths rounded, usually longer than the internodes, hispid, hairs papillose-based, to 5 mm;
ligules 0.5-1.5 mm;
blades 3-30 cm long, 2-12 mm wide, linear, ascending to erect, flat, hirsute to sparsely pilose, greenish or purplish, bases truncate to subcordate and ciliate on the margins, apices acute.
7-27 cm long, 4-24 cm wide, 1/4 - 1/3 as long as the plants, diffuse, usually exserted at anthesis, not breaking at the base of the peduncles to become a tumbleweed;
rachises glabrous or sparsely pilose basally;
primary branches spreading, secondary branches and pedicels confined to the distal 2/3 secondary branches diverging to appressed, with 1-4 spikelets;
pedicels 3-15 mm, spreading to appressed, scabrous or hirsute;
pulvini glabrous or pilose.
5-30 cm, nearly as wide as long;
branches few, capillary, with a few spikelets distally;
pedicels 0.5-10 mm.
1.4-2.4 mm long, 0.5-0.7 mm wide, usually green, glabrous.
1.7-2.2 mm long, about 1 mm wide, ellipsoid or obovoid, glabrous, faintly veined, subacute or obtuse at the apices.
0.5-0.9 mm, usually less than 1/2 as long as the spikelets, 3-4-veined, truncate to acuminate;
upper glumes 1.6-2 mm, 7-veined, veins not prominent;
lower lemmas 1.6-1.9 mm, 7-9-veined, veins not prominent;
lower paleas absent;
lower florets sterile;
upper florets 1.5-1.7 mm long, about 0.4 mm wide, often dark brown, sometimes disarticulating, apices minutely papillose.
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.
= 18.
= 36.
Panicum philadelphicum
Panicum verrucosum
Panicum philadelphicum grows in open areas such as fallow fields, roadside ditches, receding shores, and rock crevices. It is restricted to the eastern part of the Flora region. It intergrades with P. capillare, possibly as a result of hybridization, especially in the southeastern United States. Seeds germinating on receding shores in late summer often produce tiny plants.
(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.)
1. Spikelets less than 1/2 as wide as long; plants purplish | subsp. lithophilum |
1. Spikelets usually more than 1/2 as wide as long; plants green or yellow-green. | → 2 |
2. Spikelets 1.9-2.4 mm long; apices of the upper glumes and lower lemmas straight; secondary branches and pedicels divergent; blades often 6-12 mm wide, those of the flag leaves usually more than 1/2 as long as the panicles | subsp. gattingeri |
2. Spikelets 1.4-2.1 mm long; apices of the upper glumes and lower lemmas curving over the upper florets at maturity; secondary panicle branches and pedicels appressed; blades usually 2-6 mm wide, those of the flag leaves usually less than M as long as the panicles | subsp. philadelphicum |
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