Paspalum distichum |
Paspalum almum |
|
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knot grass, knotroot paspalum, thompsongrass, water finger-grass |
comb's crowngrass, comb's paspalum |
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Habit | Plants perennial; rhizomatous or cespitose. | Plants perennial; cespitose, shortly rhizomatous. |
Culms | 5-65 cm, erect; nodes glabrous. |
10-50 cm, erect. |
Sheaths | glabrous, sparsely long pubescent distally; ligules 1-2 mm; blades to 14 cm long, 1.8-11.5 mm wide, flat or conduplicate, glabrous or pubescent, apices involute. |
glabrous or sparsely pubescent; ligules 0.5-2 mm; blades to 20 cm long, 1.5-3.8 mm wide, flat, pubescent. |
Panicles | terminal, usually composed of a digitate pair of branches, a third branch sometimes present below; branches 1.4-7 cm, diverging, often arcuate; branch axes 1.2-2.2 mm wide, winged, glabrous, margins scabrous, terminating in a spikelet. |
terminal, usually composed of a digitate pair of branches, 1-5 additional branches sometimes present below; branches 1.8-7.1 cm, diverging to erect; branch axes 0.8-1.3 mm wide, winged, terminating in a spikelet. |
Spikelets | 2.4-3.2 mm long, 1.1-1.6 mm wide, solitary (rarely paired), appressed to the branch axes, broadly elliptic, stramineous, sometimes partially purple. |
3-3.6 mm long, 1.3-1.8 mm wide, solitary (rarely paired), appressed to the branch axes, elliptic, glabrous, apices acute to acuminate. |
Lower glumes | absent or, if present, to 1 mm and triangular; upper glumes sparsely and shortly pubescent on the back, 3-veined; lower lemmas glabrous, 3-veined; upper florets stramineous. |
absent; upper glumes and lower lemmas glabrous, 5-veined, margins flat; upper florets stramineous to golden brown. |
Caryopses | 1.9-2.1 mm, yellow. |
|
2n | = 20, 30, 40, 48, 60, 61. |
= 12, 24, 36. |
Paspalum distichum |
Paspalum almum |
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Distribution |
AL; AR; AZ; CA; FL; GA; ID; KS; KY; LA; MD; MO; MS; NC; NJ; NM; NV; OK; OR; PA; SC; TN; TX; UT; VA; WA; HI; PR; Virgin Islands
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LA; TX |
Discussion | Paspalum distichum grows on the edges of lakes, ponds, rice fields, and wet roadside ditches. It is native in warm regions throughout the world, being most abundant in humid areas. In the Western Hemisphere, it grows from the United States to Argentina and Chile. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Paspalum almum was probably introduced to North America as a forage species. Its native range is Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, and eastern Argentina. It has not been reported from Mexico or Central America. In the Flora region, it is found along roadsides and in pastures of southeastern Texas and southern Louisiana. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 25, p. 575. | FNA vol. 25, p. 575. |
Parent taxa | Poaceae > subfam. Panicoideae > tribe Paniceae > Paspalum | Poaceae > subfam. Panicoideae > tribe Paniceae > Paspalum |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | P. paspaloides | |
Name authority | L. | Chase |
Web links |
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