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bahia grass

Dallis grass, sticky heads

Habit Plants perennial; rhizomatous. Plants perennial; cespitose, rhizomatous, rhizomes short (less than 1 cm), forming a knotty base.
Culms

20-110 cm, erect;

nodes glabrous.

50-175 cm, erect;

nodes glabrous.

Sheaths

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 pubescent, lower sheaths more frequently pubescent than the upper sheaths;

ligules 1.5-3.8 mm;

blades to 35 cm long, 2-16.5 mm wide, flat, mostly glabrous, adaxial surfaces with a few long hairs near the base.

Panicles

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, with 2-7 racemosely arranged branches;

branches 1.5-12 cm, racemose, divergent;

branch axes 0.7-1.4 mm wide, winged, glabrous, margins scabrous, terminating in a spikelet.

Spikelets

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.

2.3-4 mm long, 1.7-2.5 mm wide, paired, appressed to the branch axes, ovate, tapering to an acute apex, stramineous (rarely purple).

Caryopses

2-3 mm, white.

2-2.3 mm, white to brown.

Lower

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 5-7-veined, margins pilose;

upper florets stramineous.

2n

= 20, 30, 40.

= 20, 40, 50-63.

Paspalum notatum

Paspalum dilatatum

Distribution
from FNA
AL; AR; CA; FL; GA; IL; LA; MS; NC; NJ; OK; SC; TN; TX; VA; HI; PR; Virgin Islands
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AL; AR; AZ; CA; CO; DC; FL; GA; IL; KY; LA; MD; MO; MS; NC; NJ; NM; OK; OR; SC; TN; TX; VA; WV; HI; PR
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

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 dilatatum is native to Brazil and Argentina. It is now well established in the Flora region, generally as a weed in waste places. It is also used as a turf grass.

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

Source FNA vol. 25, p. 575. FNA vol. 25, p. 579.
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. 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. 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. 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. notatum var. latiflorum, P. notatum var. saurae
Name authority Flüggé Poir.
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