Panicum repens
Panicum ghiesbreghtii
couch panicum, creeping panic, panic rampant, torpedo grass, wainaku grass
Ghiesbreght's panicgrass, Ghiesbreght's witchgrass
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.
40-120 cm tall, 2-3 mm thick, decumbent to erect, branching from the base and the middle nodes;
nodes pilose, hairs spreading;
internodes hirsute, hairs papillose-based.
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.
usually shorter than the internodes, hirsute, lower sheaths more so than those above, hairs papillose-based;
collars densely pilose;
ligules 0.5-4 mm;
blades 16-55 cm long, 0.5-14 mm wide, erect to ascending, abaxial surfaces hirsute, hairs papillose-based, adaxial surfaces densely pilose, midveins prominent and whitish, bases truncate, margins ciliate basally, apices attenuate.
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.
2.6-3.4 mm long, 0.9-1.2 mm wide, ovoid, 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.
1.4-1.7 mm, to 1/2 as long as the spikelets, acute, 5-7-veined;
upper glumes and lower lemmas similar, exceeding the upper florets by 0.7-0.9 mm, 9-13-veined;
lower florets sterile;
lower paleas 0.5-1.3 mm;
upper lorets 1.7-2.3 mm long, 0.8-1.1 mm wide, smooth, ovoid.
panicles 7-35 cm long, 5-23 cm wide, about 1/2 as wide as long, shortly exerted or partially included, lax, open;
axillary panicles smaller, included basally;
primary branches diverging, lower branches solitary, upper branches solitary to subverticillate;
secondary branching primarily in the distal 1/3;
pedicels 1-4 mm, clavate, spreading to appressed.
- 36, 40, 45, 54.
= unknown.
Panicum repens
Panicum ghiesbreghtii
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 ghiesbreghtii grows in low, moist ground, wet thickets, and savannahs, from southern Texas through Mexico, Central America, Cuba, and the West Indies to northern South America.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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