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bahia grass

Matted paspalum

Habit Plants perennial; rhizomatous. Plants perennial; shortly rhizomatous.
Culms

20-110 cm, erect;

nodes glabrous.

3-60 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;

ligules 0.2-0.7 mm;

blades 8-18 cm long, 2-7.1 mm wide, flat, glabrous or pubescent.

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, usually composed of a digitate pair of branches, a third branch sometimes present below the terminal pair;

branches 1.8-6.4 cm, diverging to erect;

branch axes 0.5-1.3 mm wide, narrowly 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.

1.9-2.3 mm long, 1.2-2 mm wide, solitary, appressed to the branch axes, broadly elliptic to ovate to obovate, glabrous, stramineous, apices obtuse.

Caryopses

2-3 mm, white.

1.8-2.2 mm, white.

Lower

glumes absent;

upper glumes glabrous, 5-veined;

lower lemmas 5-veined, margins inrolled;

upper florets light yellow to white.

glumes absent;

upper glumes 3-veined, lower lemmas faintly 3-veined;

upper florets stramineous.

2n

= 20, 30, 40.

= 20, 40, 50.

Paspalum notatum

Paspalum minus

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; FL; LA; MS; TX; PR
[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 minus grows in disturbed areas and on the edges of forests. It grows from southern Texas to Florida in the Flora region; outside the region, it extends through Mexico and the West Indies to Peru, Bolivia, Brazil, and Paraguay.

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

Source FNA vol. 25, p. 575. FNA vol. 25, p. 577.
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. dilatatum, P. dissectum, P. distichum, P. fimbriatum, P. floridanum, P. hartwegianum, P. intermedium, P. laeve, P. langei, P. laxum, P. lividum, P. malacophyllum, 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 E. Fourn.
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