Panicum repens
Panicum gymnocarpon
couch panicum, creeping panic, panic rampant, torpedo grass, wainaku grass
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.
60-130 cm, thick, glabrous, rooting profusely at the lower nodes;
nodes glabrous, often with a dark green band.
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, glabrous, prominently veined;
ligules 0.5-1.5 mm;
blades 15-40 cm long, 7-25 mm wide, tapering from midlength, flat, both surfaces glabrous, bases subcordate, margins scabrous to smooth, widest at the base, apices 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.
10-40 cm long, 7-20 cm wide, open, with straight, rigid rachises;
branches whorled, stiffly ascending, with short, appressed, higher order branches; ultimate branchlets 1-sided, with solitary spikelets or small clusters of spikelets;
pedicels 0.1-1.5 mm.
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.
5.5-7 mm long, about 1 mm wide, narrowly lanceoloid, glabrous.
spreading apart at maturity, keeled, prominently veined, scabrous along the midveins;
lower glumes nearly as long as the lower lemmas;
upper glumes and lower lemmas 3-veined, spreading, greatly exceeding the upper florets, lower lemmas longer than the upper glumes, arcuate;
lower florets sterile;
lower paleas thin;
upper florets 1.9-2.2 mm, less than 1/3 as long as the spikelets, obovoid, lustrous, pale to brownish, acute, often short-stipitate.
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.
- 36, 40, 45, 54.
= 40.
Panicum repens
Panicum gymnocarpon
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 gymnocarpon grows in swamps, wet woodlands, and the marshy shores of lakes and streams. It is also found occasionally in shallow water, often in the shade. It is restricted to the United States.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
CalFlora
LA Plants
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
