Paspalum distichum |
Paspalum quadrifarium |
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knot grass, knotroot paspalum, thompsongrass, water finger-grass |
paja colorada, paja manse, tussock paspalum |
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Habit | Plants perennial; rhizomatous or cespitose. | Plants perennial; cespitose. |
Culms | 5-65 cm, erect; nodes glabrous. |
(50)100-180 cm, erect; nodes pubescent. |
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, margins extending into auricles; ligules 1-6.3 mm; blades 15-62 cm long, 4.9-6.1 mm wide, involute to flat, glabrous. |
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 15-44 racemosely arranged branches; branches 1.2-8.5 cm, straight, erect to ascending, lower branches longer than those above; branch axes 0.5-0.6 mm wide, narrowly winged, glabrous, margins scabrous, pubescent, 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. |
2-2.5(3) mm long, 0.9-1.3 mm wide, paired, divergent to spreading from the branch axes, elliptic, brown to stramineous, often purple-tinged. |
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. |
usually absent, if present, to 0.9 mm, triangular; upper glumes shortly pubescent, 3-veined, purple-spotted, margins entire; lower lemmas glabrous or pubescent, lacking ribs over the veins, 3-veined, margins entire; upper florets 2.2-2.5 mm, white. |
Caryopses | 1.9-2.1 mm, yellow. |
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2n | = 20, 30, 40, 48, 60, 61. |
= 20, 30, 40. |
Paspalum distichum |
Paspalum quadrifarium |
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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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MS |
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 quadrifarium is native to Uruguay, Paraguay, Brazil, and Argentina. It is grown as an ornamental in Florida, but has also become established in disturbed habitats of the southeastern United States. It is considered a noxious weed in New South Wales, Australia. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 25, p. 575. | FNA vol. 25. |
Parent taxa | Poaceae > subfam. Panicoideae > tribe Paniceae > Paspalum | Poaceae > subfam. Panicoideae > tribe Paniceae > Paspalum |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | P. paspaloides | |
Name authority | L. | Lam. |
Web links |
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