Panicum virgatum
Panicum philadelphicum
panic raide, switch grass, switch panicgrass
panic de philadelphie, Philadelphia panic grass, Philadelphia 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.
8-100 cm tall, about 1 mm thick, erect to decumbent, simple to profusely branched;
nodes sparsely to densely pilose.
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.
often crowded basally;
sheaths rounded, usually longer than the internodes, hispid, hairs papillose-based, to 5 mm;
ligules 0.5-1.5 mm;
blades 3-30 cm long, 2-12 mm wide, linear, ascending to erect, flat, hirsute to sparsely pilose, greenish or purplish, bases truncate to subcordate and ciliate on the margins, apices acute.
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.
7-27 cm long, 4-24 cm wide, 1/4 - 1/3 as long as the plants, diffuse, usually exserted at anthesis, not breaking at the base of the peduncles to become a tumbleweed;
rachises glabrous or sparsely pilose basally;
primary branches spreading, secondary branches and pedicels confined to the distal 2/3 secondary branches diverging to appressed, with 1-4 spikelets;
pedicels 3-15 mm, spreading to appressed, scabrous or hirsute;
pulvini glabrous or pilose.
2.5-8 mm long, 1.2-2.5 mm wide, narrowly lanceoloid, turgid to slightly laterally compressed, glabrous, acuminate.
1.4-2.4 mm long, 0.5-0.7 mm wide, usually green, 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 0.5-0.9 mm, usually less than 1/2 as long as the spikelets, 3-4-veined, truncate to acuminate;
upper glumes 1.6-2 mm, 7-veined, veins not prominent;
lower lemmas 1.6-1.9 mm, 7-9-veined, veins not prominent;
lower paleas absent;
lower florets sterile;
upper florets 1.5-1.7 mm long, about 0.4 mm wide, often dark brown, sometimes disarticulating, apices minutely papillose.
= 18, 21, 25, 30, 32, 35, 36, 54-60, 67-72, 74, 77, 90, 108.
= 18.
Panicum virgatum
Panicum philadelphicum
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 philadelphicum grows in open areas such as fallow fields, roadside ditches, receding shores, and rock crevices. It is restricted to the eastern part of the Flora region. It intergrades with P. capillare, possibly as a result of hybridization, especially in the southeastern United States. Seeds germinating on receding shores in late summer often produce tiny plants.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
1. Spikelets less than 1/2 as wide as long; plants purplish | subsp. lithophilum |
1. Spikelets usually more than 1/2 as wide as long; plants green or yellow-green. | → 2 |
2. Spikelets 1.9-2.4 mm long; apices of the upper glumes and lower lemmas straight; secondary branches and pedicels divergent; blades often 6-12 mm wide, those of the flag leaves usually more than 1/2 as long as the panicles | subsp. gattingeri |
2. Spikelets 1.4-2.1 mm long; apices of the upper glumes and lower lemmas curving over the upper florets at maturity; secondary panicle branches and pedicels appressed; blades usually 2-6 mm wide, those of the flag leaves usually less than M as long as the panicles | subsp. philadelphicum |
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