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knot grass, knotroot paspalum, thompsongrass, water finger-grass

Blodgett's crowngrass, coral paspalum

Habit Plants perennial; rhizomatous or cespitose. Plants perennial; cespitose, bulbous; scales pubescent.
Culms

5-65 cm, erect;

nodes glabrous.

40-100 cm, erect;

nodes glabrous.

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.

pubescent or glabrous;

ligules 0.2-0.4 mm;

blades 5-27 cm long, 1.9-8 mm wide, flat, glabrous, pubescent behind the ligules, margins scabrous, often ciliate basally.

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, with 2-6 racemosely arranged branches;

branches 1.5-7.5 cm, diverging to spreading;

branch axes 0.5-0.8 mm wide, narrowly 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.

1-1.3 mm long, 0.7-0.9 mm wide, paired, appressed to the branch axes, elliptic to elliptic-obovate, glandular pubescent, stramineous to light or golden brown.

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 3-veined;

upper florets 0.8-1.1 mm, stramineous.

Caryopses

1.9-2.1 mm, yellow.

0.9-1.1 mm in diameter, orbicular, amber.

2n

= 20, 30, 40, 48, 60, 61.

= 40.

Paspalum distichum

Paspalum blodgettii

Distribution
from FNA
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
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
FL; PR
[BONAP county map]
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 blodgettii grows in hammocks, low pinelands, and along roadsides in southern peninsular Florida, the Bahamas, the Greater Antilles, southeastern Mexico, and Belize.

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

Source FNA vol. 25, p. 575. FNA vol. 25, p. 577.
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. conjugatum, P. conspersum, P. convexum, P. coryphaeum, P. dilatatum, P. dissectum, 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. boscianum, P. caespitosum, P. conjugatum, 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
Synonyms P. paspaloides
Name authority L. Chapm.
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