Paspalum notatum
Paspalum almum
bahia grass
comb's crowngrass, comb's paspalum
20-110 cm, erect;
nodes glabrous.
10-50 cm, erect.
glabrous or pubescent;
ligules 0.2-0.5 mm;
blades 5-31 cm long, 2-10 mm wide, flat or conduplicate, glabrous or pubescent.
glabrous or sparsely pubescent;
ligules 0.5-2 mm;
blades to 20 cm long, 1.5-3.8 mm wide, flat, pubescent.
terminal, usually composed of a digitate pair of branches, 1-3 additional branches sometimes present below the terminal pair;
branches 3-15 cm, diverging to erect;
branch axes 0.7-1.8 mm wide, narrowly winged, glabrous, margins scabrous, terminating in a spikelet, distal spikelets sometimes reduced.
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.
2.5-4 mm long, 2-2.8 mm wide, solitary, appressed to the branch axes, broadly elliptic to ovate or obovate, glabrous, light stramineous to white, apices obtuse to broadly acute.
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.
2-3 mm, white.
glumes absent;
upper glumes glabrous, 5-veined;
lower lemmas 5-veined, margins inrolled;
upper florets light yellow to white.
glumes absent;
upper glumes and lower lemmas glabrous, 5-veined, margins flat;
upper florets stramineous to golden brown.
= 20, 30, 40.
= 12, 24, 36.
Paspalum notatum
Paspalum almum
Paspalum notatum is native from Mexico through the Caribbean and Central America to Brazil and northern Argentina. It was introduced to the United States for forage, turf, and erosion control. It is now established, generally being found in disturbed areas and at the edges of forests in the southeastern United States.
Paspalum notatum is sometimes treated as having distinct varieties. They are not recognized here because the variation among them is continuous. A number of cultivars have been developed for use as turf grasses; among these cultivars are 'Common Bahiagrass', 'Pensacola Bahiagrass', and 'Argentine Bahiagrass'.
(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.)
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