Panicum repens
Panicum trichoides
couch panicum, creeping panic, panic rampant, torpedo grass, wainaku grass
small-flower panicgrass, tropical 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.
15-100 cm tall, 0.5-1(2) mm thick, sprawling to erect, without cormlike bases, freely branching and rooting from the lower nodes;
nodes prominent, glabrous or pubescent;
internodes not succulent, pilose.
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, rounded, hairs papillose-based;
collars pilose;
ligules 0.2-0.5 mm;
blades 2-7 cm long, 5-20 mm wide, 4-6 times longer than wide, lanceolate, thin, flat, sparsely to densely pilose, hairs papillose-based, bases asymmetrically cordate to subcordate, lower margins ciliate, papillose.
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.
4-24 cm, almost as wide as long, diffuse, partially included or exerted;
primary branches to 10 cm, alternate, ascending to reflexed, branching in the distal 2/3;
pedicels 9-20 mm, threadlike.
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.
1-1.4 mm long, 0.5-0.6 mm wide, not secund, lanceoloid to narrowly ovoid, plano-convex in side view, sparsely pubescent.
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.
0.4-0.8 mm, 1/3 – 1/2 as long as the spikelets, 1-3-veined, subacute;
upper glumes 0.8-1.2 mm, arising 0.2 mm above the lower glumes, 3-5-veined;
lower florets sterile;
lower lemmas 0.1-0.2 mm longer than the upper glumes, 3-5-veined;
lower paleas 0.5-0.8 mm, hyaline;
upper florets 0.8-1.2 mm long, 0.4-0.6 mm wide, finely rugose, lemmas strongly convex.
- 36, 40, 45, 54.
= 18.
Panicum repens
Panicum trichoides
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 trichoides grows in moist, often weedy fields, woodlands, and savannahs of Mexico, Central and tropical America, and the Caribbean. It has been found, as a weed, in Brownsville and Austin, Texas, and is probably introduced to the Flora region. It has also been introduced into Africa, tropical Asia, and the Pacific islands. In the Flora region, it flowers from August through October.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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WildflowerSearch
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