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herbe creole, Hilo grass, muhsrasre, rehn wei, sour grass, sour paspalum, ti grass

Emperor crowngrass, Emperor paspalum

Habit Plants perennial; stoloniferous. Plants perennial; cespitose, not rhizomatous.
Culms

15-80 cm, erect;

nodes glabrous.

65-400 cm, erect;

nodes pilose.

Sheaths

glabrous, pubescent distally;

ligules 0.5-0.8 mm;

blades 7-23 cm long, 1.5-8 mm wide, flat.

papillose-hirsute (upper sheaths sometimes glabrous);

ligules 1-4.5 mm;

blades 30-50 cm long, 10-23 mm wide, flat, with long hairs behind the ligules, otherwise glabrous or puberulent adaxially.

Panicles

terminal, usually composed of a pair of branches, a third branch sometimes present below the terminal pair;

branches 2.5-12.7 cm, diverging to spreading, often arcuate, persistent;

branch axes 0.2-0.8 mm wide, glabrous, margins scabrous, terminating in a reduced spikelet.

terminal, with (6)15-44 racemosely arranged branches;

branches 5-13 cm, straight, spreading to reflexed, rarely merely divergent;

branch axes 0.3-0.4 mm wide, narrowly winged, glabrous, margins scabrous, pubescent, terminating in a spikelet.

Spikelets

1.3-1.9 mm long, 0.8-1.1 mm wide, solitary, appressed to the branch axes, ovate, stramineous.

2-2.5 mm long, 1.8-1.9 mm wide, paired, divergent to spreading from the branch axes, elliptic, brown to stramineous, often purple-tinged.

Lower glumes

absent;

upper glumes pilose on the margins, veinless or 2-3-veined;

lower lemmas glabrous, veinless or 2-3-veined;

upper florets whitish to golden yellow.

usually absent, if present, to 0.9 mm, triangular;

upper glumes smooth, papillose-hirsute, 3-veined;

lower lemmas smooth, papillose-hirsute or glabrous, 3-veined;

upper florets white.

Caryopses

0.9-1.1 mm, white to yellow.

2n

= 18, 20, 40, 80.

= 20, 40, 60.

Paspalum conjugatum

Paspalum coryphaeum

Distribution
from FNA
AL; FL; LA; MS; TX; UT; HI; PR; Virgin Islands
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
FL; NC
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Paspalum conjugatum is native to tropical and subtropical regions of both the Western and Eastern hemispheres, including the Flora region. It grows in disturbed areas and at the edges of forests, and is sometimes used as a lawn grass.

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

Paspalum coryphaeum is native from Costa Rica and the Caribbean south to northern South America. In the Flora region, it grows in disturbed habitats at scattered southeastern locations.

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

Source FNA vol. 25, p. 572. FNA vol. 25, p. 586.
Parent taxa Poaceae > subfam. Panicoideae > tribe Paniceae > Paspalum Poaceae > subfam. Panicoideae > tribe Paniceae > Paspalum
Sibling taxa
P. acuminatum, P. almum, P. bifidum, P. blodgettii, P. boscianum, P. caespitosum, P. conspersum, P. convexum, P. coryphaeum, P. dilatatum, P. dissectum, P. distichum, P. fimbriatum, P. floridanum, P. hartwegianum, P. intermedium, P. laeve, P. langei, P. laxum, P. lividum, P. malacophyllum, P. minus, P. modestum, P. monostachyum, P. nicorae, P. notatum, P. paniculatum, P. pleostachyum, P. plicatulum, P. praecox, P. pubiflorum, P. quadrifarium, P. racemosum, P. repens, P. scrobiculatum, P. setaceum, P. unispicatum, P. urvillei, P. vaginatum, P. virgatum, P. virletii, P. wrightii
P. acuminatum, P. almum, P. bifidum, P. blodgettii, P. boscianum, P. caespitosum, P. conjugatum, P. conspersum, P. convexum, P. dilatatum, P. dissectum, P. distichum, P. fimbriatum, P. floridanum, P. hartwegianum, P. intermedium, P. laeve, P. langei, P. laxum, P. lividum, P. malacophyllum, P. minus, P. modestum, P. monostachyum, P. nicorae, P. notatum, P. paniculatum, P. pleostachyum, P. plicatulum, P. praecox, P. pubiflorum, P. quadrifarium, P. racemosum, P. repens, P. scrobiculatum, P. setaceum, P. unispicatum, P. urvillei, P. vaginatum, P. virgatum, P. virletii, P. wrightii
Name authority P.J. Bergius Trin.
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