Paspalum notatum
Paspalum wrightii
bahia grass
Wright's paspalum
20-110 cm, erect;
nodes glabrous.
80-150 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 or sparsely pubescent;
ligules 1-3 mm;
blades to 35 cm long, 2-7 mm wide, flat, glabrous above, pubescent below, especially basally.
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 5-8 racemosely arranged branches;
branches 3.5-11 cm, divergent to erect;
branch axes 0.6-1.1 mm wide, glabrous, 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.
2.2-2.7 mm long, 1-1.4 mm wide, paired, appressed to or divergent from the branch axes, elliptic, glabrous, light brown.
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 glabrous, 3-veined;
lower lemmas glabrous, 5-veined;
upper florets glossy chestnut brown.
= 20, 30, 40.
= unknown.
Paspalum notatum
Paspalum wrightii
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.)
The range of Paspalum wrightii extends from Cuba and Campeche, Mexico, to Bolivia, Paraguay, and Argentina. It is now established in the Flora region, growing along wet, roadside ditches, primarily on the Gulf coast of Texas.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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