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early paspalum

Matted paspalum

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

5-160 cm, erect, not rooting at the lower nodes;

nodes glabrous.

3-60 cm, erect;

nodes glabrous.

Sheaths

densely pubescent, occasionally glabrous;

ligules 1-2.2 mm;

blades to 55 cm long, 2.2-8.3 mm wide, conduplicate (occasionally flat), glabrous below, pubescent above.

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, with 2-10 racemosely arranged branches;

branches 0.8-10.3 cm, divergent to spreading, often arcuate, terminating in a spikelet;

branch axes 0.8-2 mm wide, narrowly winged, glabrous, margins scabrous.

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

2.1-3.1 mm long, 2-2.8 mm wide, paired, imbricate, appressed to divergent from the branch axes, orbicular to suborbicular, stramineous.

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

1.9-2.1 mm, brown.

1.8-2.2 mm, white.

Lower

glumes absent;

upper glumes and lower lemmas glabrous, 3-veined, margins entire;

upper florets white to light yellow.

glumes absent;

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

upper florets stramineous.

2n

= 20, 40.

= 20, 40, 50.

Paspalum praecox

Paspalum minus

Distribution
from FNA
AL; AR; FL; GA; IL; LA; MS; NC; SC; TX; VA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AL; FL; LA; MS; TX; PR
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Paspalum praecox grows in pitcher plant bogs, wet pine flatwoods, wet savannahs, prairies, and wet streamhead ecotones. It is restricted to the United States, growing predominantly on the southeastern coastal plain.

(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. 597. 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. notatum, P. paniculatum, P. pleostachyum, P. plicatulum, 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. praecox var. curtisianum, P. lentiferum
Name authority Walter E. Fourn.
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