Panicum repens
Panicum diffusum
couch panicum, creeping panic, panic rampant, torpedo grass, wainaku grass
spreading witchgrass, West Indian 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.
(6)25-100 cm, 0.5-3.5 mm thick, spreading to weakly ascending, usually freely branching;
nodes pilose, hairs spreading to ascending;
internodes pilose, with papillose-based hairs, or sparsely hispid.
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.
rounded, glabrous, margins shortly ciliate distally;
ligules 0.6-4 mm, of hairs;
blades (3)6-15 cm long, 1-5 mm wide, spreading, abaxial surfaces sparsely hirsute, adaxial surfaces more densely so, hairs papillose-based, midribs prominent and not white, margins involute, bases cuneate, apices subulate.
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.
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.
2.1-2.9 mm long, 0.8-1 mm wide, glabrous.
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.
1-1.2 mm, to 1/2 as long as the spikelets, attenuate, 5-9-veined, veins anastomosing apically;
upper glumes and lower lemmas similar, extending about 0.5 mm beyond the upper florets, 11-13-veined;
lower florets sterile;
lower paleas 1-1.3 mm;
upper florets 1.5-1.8 mm long, 0.6-0.8 mm wide, smooth.
panicles 3-35 cm long, about 1/2 as wide, shortly exserted;
axillary panicles smaller, not fully exserted;
rachises scabridulous;
primary branches usually solitary, sometimes paired, divergent and widely spaced, secondary branching mostly on the distal 1/3 of the primary branches;
pedicels 1-4 mm, spreading to appressed, confined to the distal portions of the secondary branches.
- 36, 40, 45, 54.
= 36.
Panicum repens
Panicum diffusum
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 diffusum grows along river banks, ditches, and disturbed areas in wet, loamy or clayey soils. Its range extends from Texas to the Caribbean and northern South America.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
CalFlora
LA Plants
WildflowerSearch
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USDA Plants Database
