Panicum repens
Panicum coloratum
couch panicum, creeping panic, panic rampant, torpedo grass, wainaku grass
kleingrass
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.
50-140 cm tall, 1.5-2.5 mm thick, usually erect, rarely decumbent, firm;
nodes glabrous or puberulent;
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 than the internodes, glabrous or hispid, hairs papillose-based, rounded basally;
ligules 0.5-2 mm;
blades 10-30 cm long, 2-8 mm wide, flat, glabrous or sparsely hirsute on 1 or both surfaces.
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.
4-25(40) cm long, 3-14 cm wide, exerted, lax;
primary branches 3-14 cm, opposite and alternate, ascending, glabrous, branching in the distal M;
pedicels 1-4 mm, appressed or spreading.
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.
2.5-3.5 mm long, 1-1.2 mm wide, narrowly ovoid to ellipsoid, 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.
1-1.5 mm, about 1/3 as long as the spikelets, glabrous, 1-3-veined, acute;
upper glumes slightly exceeding the lower lemmas, glabrous, acute, scarcely separated from the lower lemmas;
lower florets staminate;
lower lemmas similar to the upper glumes;
lower paleas 2-3 mm, oblong;
upper florets 2-2.5 mm long, 0.8-1 mm wide, ellipsoid, widest below the middle, glabrous, smooth, shiny, apices lightly beaked.
- 36, 40, 45, 54.
= 18, 36, 41, 42, 43, 45, 54, 63 (United States material apparently usually tetraploid, with 2n = 36).
Panicum repens
Panicum coloratum
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 coloratum is an African species that has been widely introduced into tropical and subtropical regions around the world. It is now established in the Flora region, growing in open, usually wet ground; it is also occasionally cultivated as a forage grass.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
CalFlora
LA Plants
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
