Panicum virgatum
Panicum ghiesbreghtii
panic raide, switch grass, switch panicgrass
Ghiesbreght's panicgrass, Ghiesbreght's witchgrass
40-300 cm tall, 3-5 mm thick, solitary or forming dense clumps, erect or decumbent, usually simple;
nodes glabrous;
internodes hard, glabrous or glaucous, green or purplish.
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.
longer than the lower internodes, shorter than those above, glabrous or pilose, especially on the throat, margins usually ciliate;
ligules 2-6 mm;
blades 10-60 cm long, 2-15 mm wide, flat, erect, ascending or spreading, glabrous or pubescent, adaxial surfaces sometimes densely pubescent, particularly basally, bases rounded to slightly narrowed, margins scabrous.
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.
10-55 cm long, 4-20 cm wide, exserted, open;
primary branches thin, straight, solitary to whorled or fascicled, ascending to spreading, scabrous, usually rebranching once;
pedicels 0.5-20 mm, appressed to spreading.
2.5-8 mm long, 1.2-2.5 mm wide, narrowly lanceoloid, turgid to slightly laterally compressed, glabrous, acuminate.
2.6-3.4 mm long, 0.9-1.2 mm wide, ovoid, glabrous.
glumes 1.8-3.2 mm, 1/2 - 4/5 as long as the spikelets, glabrous, 5-9-veined, acuminate;
upper glumes and lower lemmas extending 0.4-3 mm beyond the upper florets, 7-11-veined, strongly gaping at the apices;
lower florets staminate;
lower paleas 3-3.5 mm, ovate-hastate, lateral lobes folded over the anthers before anthesis;
upper florets 2.3-3 mm long, 0.8-1.1 mm wide, narrowly ovoid, smooth, glabrous, shiny;
upper lemmas clasping the paleas only at the base.
glumes 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.
= 18, 21, 25, 30, 32, 35, 36, 54-60, 67-72, 74, 77, 90, 108.
= unknown.
Panicum virgatum
Panicum ghiesbreghtii
Panicum virgatum grows in tallgrass prairies, especially mesic to wet types where it is a major component of the vegetation, and on dry slopes, sand, open oak or pine woodlands, shores, river banks, and brackish marshes. Its range extends, primarily on the eastern side of the Rocky Mountains, from southern Canada through the United States to Mexico, Cuba, Bermuda, and Costa Rica, and, possibly as an introduction, in Argentina. It has also been introduced as a forage grass to other parts of the world.
Panicum virgatum is an important and palatable forage grass, but its abundance in native grasslands decreases with grazing. Several types are planted for range and wildlife habitat improvement. Plants from eastern New Mexico, western Texas, and northern Mexico tend to have larger spikelets (6-8 mm versus 2.5-5.5 mm) and are sometimes called P. havardii Vasey Tetraploids appear to be the most common ploidy level, especially in the upper midwest and northern plains, with higher ploidy levels being more common southwards, but plants in a small area can range from diploid through duodecaploid, with dysploid derivatives. If morphological markers matched chromosome numbers and ecotypic characters, the species could be considered an aggregate of numerous microspecies. In the absence of such correlations, it must be regarded as simply a wide-ranging, highly variable taxon. Plants identified as Panicum virgatum var. cubense Griseb. and P. virgatum var. spissum Linder represent end points of geographic clines.
Panicum virgatum is not always readily separable from P. amarum, particularly P. amarum subsp. amarulum; future work may support their treatment as conspecific taxa.
(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.)
- Local floras:
OR - Local Web sites:
CalFlora, CalPhotos, 
Flora NW, 
Go Botany, 
IL Wildflowers, 
KS Wildflowers, 
LA Plants, 
MD Biodiversity, 
MI Flora, 
MN Wildflowers, 
MO Plants, 
PNW Herbaria 
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist (observations)
USDA Plants Database- LBJ Wildflower Center
- SEINet
- Plants of the World Online
- Encyclopedia of Life
- Wikipedia
- Google Image Search
