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bahia grass

Virlet's paspalum

Habit Plants perennial; rhizomatous. Plants perennial; cespitose.
Culms

20-110 cm, erect;

nodes glabrous.

40-75 cm, erect, not swollen at the base;

nodes pubescent.

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.

pubescent;

blades to 15 cm long, 5-10 mm wide, flat, 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, with 3-8 racemosely arranged branches;

branches 2-7 cm, spreading, terminating in a spikelet;

branch axes narrow, sparsely pubescent.

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.

2-2.5 mm long, 1.4-1.6 mm wide, paired, imbricate, appressed to the branch axes, ovate.

Caryopses

2-3 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 shortly pubescent, 3-veined, margins entire;

lower lemmas glabrous, lacking ribs over the veins, 3-veined, margins entire;

upper florets pale to stramineous or golden brown.

2n

= 20, 30, 40.

= unknown.

Paspalum notatum

Paspalum virletii

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
AZ
[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 virletii grows in dry, sandy soils in disturbed habits. It is known only from Arizona, where it is considered a rare species, and from Mexico, where it also appears to be either rare or poorly collected (COTECOCA 2000).

(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
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. 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. wrightii
Synonyms P. notatum var. latiflorum, P. notatum var. saurae
Name authority Flüggé E. Fourn.
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