Paspalum notatum
Paspalum laxum
bahia grass
coconut paspalum
20-110 cm, erect;
nodes glabrous.
80-110 cm, erect;
nodes glabrous.
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, sparsely pubescent apically;
ligules 1-2.9 mm;
blades 9-41 cm long, 3-7 mm wide, mostly involute, pubescent above, glabrous below.
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 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.
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.
1.6-2.2 mm long, 1.1-1.3 mm wide, paired, imbricate, appressed to the branch axes, elliptic-obovate to ovate.
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 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.
= 20, 30, 40.
= 60.
Paspalum notatum
Paspalum laxum
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 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.)
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