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warty panicgrass

maidencane, mountain panic

Habit Plants annual; weak, ascending or sprawling. Plants perennial; robust, aquatic or semi-aquatic, forming extensive colonies through spreading rhizomes.
Culms

10-150 cm, slender, wiry, erect at first, ultimately decumbent, sprawling, glabrous, often with purple dots and streaks, branching extensively at the base, rooting at the lower nodes.

50-200 cm, mostly erect and sterile, glabrous, often rooting from the lower nodes if submerged.

Sheaths

often shorter than the internodes, loose, glabrous, margins short-ciliate;

ligules 0.2-0.5 mm, membranous, erose, ciliate;

blades 5-20 cm long, 3-10 mm wide, thin, flat, glabrous on both surfaces, margins scabridulous, apices long-acuminate.

usually glabrous, or pilose or hirsute at the lowermost sheath, especially distally;

ligules shorter than 1 mm;

blades 8-35 cm long, 5-15 mm wide, ascending or spreading, abaxial surfaces glabrous, adaxial surfaces usually scabridulous or pubescent, bases slightly narrowed, margins scabrous, apices long-tapering.

Panicles

5-30 cm, nearly as wide as long;

branches few, capillary, with a few spikelets distally;

pedicels 0.5-10 mm.

10-30 cm long, less than 1 cm wide;

branches mostly short, appressed-ascending, with fascicles of congested spikelets; ultimate branchlets 1-sided;

pedicels 0.2-1.8 mm.

Spikelets

1.7-2.2 mm long, about 1 mm wide, ellipsoid or obovoid, glabrous, faintly veined, subacute or obtuse at the apices.

2-2.8 mm, subsessile, lanceoloid, slightly laterally compressed, glabrous, acute.

Lower glumes

0.3-0.8 mm, reduced, acute;

upper glumes and lower lemmas subequal or the glumes shorter, distinctly verrucose, with hemispheric warts;

upper florets 1.6-2 mm long, about 1 mm wide, grayish-brown, dull, minutely papillose, acute.

about 1/2 as long as the spikelets, slightly keeled along the midveins, 3-veined, acute;

upper glumes and lower lemmas similar, glumes slightly shorter than the lemmas, faintly keeled on the back, acute;

lower florets staminate;

lower paleas subequal to the lower lemmas;

upper florets 2-2.5 mm, 2/5 to almost as long as the spikelets, narrowly ellipsoid;

upper lemmas relatively thin, flexible, pale, acuminate, clasping the paleas only at the base.

2n

= 36.

= 36, 40.

Panicum verrucosum

Panicum hemitomon

Distribution
from FNA
AL; AR; CT; DC; DE; FL; GA; IL; IN; KY; LA; MA; MD; MI; MO; MS; NC; NJ; NY; OH; OK; PA; RI; SC; TN; TX; VA; WV
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AL; DE; FL; GA; LA; MD; MS; NC; NJ; SC; TN; TX; VA
[WildflowerSearch map]
Discussion

Panicum verrucosum grows primarily in open, moist or wet sandy areas bordering swamps, marshes, or lakes or on roadside ditches; it also grows occasionally in open, drier woodlands. It is restricted to the eastern United States and is mostly, but not exclusively, coastal.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Panicum hemitomon forms extensive, nearly pure stands in water or wet soils such as marshes, swamps, and along the shores of streams, canals, ditches, lakes, and ponds. It is restricted to the United States.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Source FNA vol. 25, p. 487. FNA vol. 25, p. 484.
Parent taxa Poaceae > subfam. Panicoideae > tribe Paniceae > Panicum > subg. Phanopyrum > sect. Verrucosa Poaceae > subfam. Panicoideae > tribe Paniceae > Panicum > subg. Phanopyrum > sect. Hemitonia
Sibling taxa
P. amarum, P. anceps, P. antidotale, P. bergii, P. bisulcatum, P. brachyanthum, P. bulbosum, P. capillare, P. capillarioides, P. coloratum, P. dichotomiflorum, P. diffusum, P. flexile, P. ghiesbreghtii, P. gymnocarpon, P. hallii, P. hemitomon, P. hirsutum, P. hirticaule, P. lacustre, P. miliaceum, P. mohavense, P. obtusum, P. paludosum, P. philadelphicum, P. plenum, P. psilopodium, P. repens, P. rigidulum, P. tenerum, P. trichoides, P. urvilleanum, P. virgatum
P. amarum, P. anceps, P. antidotale, P. bergii, P. bisulcatum, P. brachyanthum, P. bulbosum, P. capillare, P. capillarioides, P. coloratum, P. dichotomiflorum, P. diffusum, P. flexile, P. ghiesbreghtii, P. gymnocarpon, P. hallii, P. hirsutum, P. hirticaule, P. lacustre, P. miliaceum, P. mohavense, P. obtusum, P. paludosum, P. philadelphicum, P. plenum, P. psilopodium, P. repens, P. rigidulum, P. tenerum, P. trichoides, P. urvilleanum, P. verrucosum, P. virgatum
Synonyms P. debile
Name authority Muhl. Schult.
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