Paspalum plicatulum |
Paspalum quadrifarium |
|
---|---|---|
brownseed paspalum |
paja colorada, paja manse, tussock paspalum |
|
Habit | Plants perennial; shortly rhizomatous, often indistinctly so. | Plants perennial; cespitose. |
Culms | 30-110 cm, stout, erect; nodes glabrous. |
(50)100-180 cm, erect; nodes pubescent. |
Sheaths | glabrous; ligules 2-3 mm; blades to 35 cm long, 2-5.4 mm wide, conduplicate (rarely flat). |
pubescent, margins extending into auricles; ligules 1-6.3 mm; blades 15-62 cm long, 4.9-6.1 mm wide, involute to flat, glabrous. |
Panicles | terminal, with 2-7 racemosely arranged branches; branches 1.6-7.1 cm, usually divergent, rarely merely ascending; branch axes 0.6-1.1 mm wide, glabrous, terminating in a spikelet. |
terminal, with 15-44 racemosely arranged branches; branches 1.2-8.5 cm, straight, erect to ascending, lower branches longer than those above; branch axes 0.5-0.6 mm wide, narrowly winged, glabrous, margins scabrous, pubescent, terminating in a spikelet. |
Spikelets | 2.5-3 mm long, 1.5-2.2 mm wide, paired, appressed to the branch axes, elliptic-ovate, light to dark brown. |
2-2.5(3) mm long, 0.9-1.3 mm wide, paired, divergent to spreading from the branch axes, elliptic, brown to stramineous, often purple-tinged. |
Lower glumes | absent; upper glumes usually with short, appressed pubescence, rarely glabrous, 5-veined, margins entire; lower lemmas with short, appressed pubescence or glabrous, 3-veined, margins entire; upper florets dark glossy brown. |
usually absent, if present, to 0.9 mm, triangular; upper glumes shortly pubescent, 3-veined, purple-spotted, margins entire; lower lemmas glabrous or pubescent, lacking ribs over the veins, 3-veined, margins entire; upper florets 2.2-2.5 mm, white. |
Caryopses | 1.4-1.6 mm, brown. |
|
2n | = 20, 40, 60. |
= 20, 30, 40. |
Paspalum plicatulum |
Paspalum quadrifarium |
|
Distribution |
AL; FL; GA; LA; MS; SC; TX; PR; Virgin Islands
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MS |
Discussion | Paspalum plicatulum grows in prairies, along forest margins, and in disturbed areas. Its range extends from the southeastern United States through the Caribbean and Mexico to Bolivia, Paraguay, and Argentina. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Paspalum quadrifarium is native to Uruguay, Paraguay, Brazil, and Argentina. It is grown as an ornamental in Florida, but has also become established in disturbed habitats of the southeastern United States. It is considered a noxious weed in New South Wales, Australia. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 25, p. 581. | FNA vol. 25. |
Parent taxa | ||
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | P. texanum | |
Name authority | Michx. | Lam. |
Web links |