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

coconut paspalum

Habit Plants perennial; rhizomatous or cespitose. Plants perennial; cespitose to short rhizomatous.
Culms

5-65 cm, erect;

nodes glabrous.

80-110 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.

glabrous, sparsely pubescent apically;

ligules 1-2.9 mm;

blades 9-41 cm long, 3-7 mm wide, mostly involute, pubescent above, glabrous below.

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 1-5(10) racemosely arranged branches;

branches 1.9-11.4 cm, erect to divergent, terminating in a spikelet;

branch axes 0.4-0.7 mm wide, very narrowly winged, scabrous.

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.

1.6-2.2 mm long, 1.1-1.3 mm wide, paired, imbricate, appressed to the branch axes, elliptic-obovate to ovate.

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 shortly pubescent, 5-veined, margins entire;

lower lemmas glabrous or shortly pubescent, lacking ribs over the veins, 3-veined, margins entire;

upper florets 1.4-2 mm, white to stramineous.

Caryopses

1.9-2.1 mm, yellow.

2n

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

= 60.

Paspalum distichum

Paspalum laxum

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
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[BONAP county map]
from FNA
FL; PR; Virgin Islands
[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 laxum grows in hammocks and along roads, often in sandy or limestone soils. It used to be common in coconut groves, hence the English-language name. It grows in southern Florida, the Antilles, and Belize.

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

Source FNA vol. 25, p. 575. FNA vol. 25, p. 592.
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. blodgettii, 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. 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. Lam.
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