Paspalum distichum |
Paspalum conspersum |
|
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knot grass, knotroot paspalum, thompsongrass, water finger-grass |
scattered paspalum |
|
Habit | Plants perennial; rhizomatous or cespitose. | Plants perennial; cespitose. |
Culms | 5-65 cm, erect; nodes glabrous. |
100-200 cm, stout, 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. |
glabrous or sparsely pubescent; ligules 1-2 mm, brown; blades to 50 cm long, 7-18 mm wide, flat, glabrous or pubescent, margins scabrous, ciliate. |
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 4-13 racemosely arranged branches; branches 6-11 cm, diverging, divaricate, or reflexed; branch axes 0.5-1(1.2) mm wide, winged, wings narrower than the central section, 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. |
2-2.7(3) mm long, 1.1-1.8 mm wide, paired, appressed to or diverging from the branch axes, elliptic to obovate, pubescent, 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 densely short pubescent, hairs about 0.5 mm; lower lemmas glabrous or sparsely short pubescent, margins entire; upper florets 1.8-2.2 mm, pubescent, brown. |
Caryopses | 1.9-2.1 mm, yellow. |
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2n | = 20, 30, 40, 48, 60, 61. |
= 40, 60. |
Paspalum distichum |
Paspalum conspersum |
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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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GA; 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 conspersum is native from Mexico to Argentina, but it has been introduced to the southern United States. It is grown for its forage value, and has become established at scattered locations from Texas to Florida, growing along roadsides and in other disturbed areas. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 25, p. 575. | FNA vol. 25, p. 581. |
Parent taxa | Poaceae > subfam. Panicoideae > tribe Paniceae > Paspalum | Poaceae > subfam. Panicoideae > tribe Paniceae > Paspalum |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | P. paspaloides | |
Name authority | L. | Schrad. |
Web links |
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