Panicum repens
Panicum psilopodium
couch panicum, creeping panic, panic rampant, torpedo grass, wainaku grass
barefoot panicgrass
20-90 cm tall, 1.8-2.8 mm thick, erect, rigid, simple or branching from the lower and middle nodes;
nodes glabrous or sparsely hispid;
internodes glabrous.
20-60 cm tall, 0.8-1.2 mm thick, shortly decumbent to geniculate basally, erect distally;
nodes glabrous;
internodes glabrous.
generally shorter than the internodes, not keeled, lower nodes glabrous or hispid, hairs papillose-based, particularly near the summits;
ligules 0.5-1 mm;
blades 3-25 cm long, 2-8 mm wide, often distichous, flat to slightly involute, firm, adaxial surfaces pilose basally, glabrous or sparsely pubescent abaxially.
shorter or longer than the internodes, rounded, smooth, glabrous;
ligules about 1 mm;
blades 5-15 cm long, 2-8 mm wide, flat, linear, glabrous or with a few marginal cilia near the base, bases contracted, apices long-acute.
3-24 cm long, usually less than 5 cm wide, open;
primary branches 2-11 cm, alternate, few, stiffly ascending to spreading;
pedicels 1-6 mm, subappressed.
10-20 cm long, 6-12 cm wide, exserted or partially included;
primary branches alternate, ascending to strongly divergent, developing secondary branches in the basal 1/3 – 1/2, pedicels 4-9 mm, ascending.
2.2-2.8 mm long, 0.8-1.3 mm wide, ellipsoid-ovoid, pale green, acute, upper glumes and lower lemmas sometimes separating (gaping) beyond the florets.
2.7-3.2 mm long, 1-1.2 mm wide, ovoid-ellipsoid, green tinged with purple, glaucous, glabrous, acute.
0.5-1 mm, 1/5 – 2/5 as long as the spikelets, glabrous, faintly 1-5-veined, subtruncate to broadly acute;
upper glumes and lower lemmas glabrous, extending 0.1-0.5 mm beyond the upper florets, scarcely separated;
upper glumes 7-11-veined, shorter than the lower lemmas, acute to short-acuminate;
lower florets staminate;
lower lemmas 7-11-veined;
lower paleas 1.9-2.1 mm, oblong;
upper florets 1.8-2.7 mm long, 0.7-1.3 mm wide, broadly ellipsoid, broadest at or above the middle, glabrous, shiny, smooth, apices rounded.
0.7-1.1 mm, about 2/5 as long as the spikelets, acute to attenuate;
upper glumes and lower lemmas similar, equaling the spikelets, 11-13-veined, tapering to apiculate apices;
lower paleas 1-2 mm;
lower florets sterile;
upper florets about 2.2 mm, ellipsoid, smooth, shiny, yellow at maturity, apices acute.
- 36, 40, 45, 54.
= 54.
Panicum repens
Panicum psilopodium
Panicum repens grows on open, moist, sandy beaches and the shores of lakes and ponds, occasionally extending out into or onto the water. It is mostly, but not exclusively, coastal. It grows on tropical and subtropical coasts throughout the world and may have been introduced to the Americas from elsewhere. Small plants having small, dense panicles of purplish spikelets with longer, subacute lower glumes have been named Panicum gouinii E. Fourn., but they intergrade with more typical plants and do not seem to merit taxonomic recognition.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Panicum psilopodium is native to eastern Asia. It has been reported from chrome ore piles in Canton, Maryland (Reed 1964), but no voucher specimens have been seen. In its native range it grows in open habitats, such as roadsides and waste places.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
CalFlora
LA Plants
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
MD Biodiversity
