Paspalum praecox
Paspalum notatum
early paspalum
bahia grass
5-160 cm, erect, not rooting at the lower nodes;
nodes glabrous.
20-110 cm, erect;
nodes glabrous.
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 0.2-0.5 mm;
blades 5-31 cm long, 2-10 mm wide, flat or conduplicate, glabrous or pubescent.
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, 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.
2.1-3.1 mm long, 2-2.8 mm wide, paired, imbricate, appressed to divergent from the branch axes, orbicular to suborbicular, stramineous.
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.
1.9-2.1 mm, brown.
2-3 mm, white.
glumes absent;
upper glumes and lower lemmas glabrous, 3-veined, margins entire;
upper florets white to light yellow.
glumes absent;
upper glumes glabrous, 5-veined;
lower lemmas 5-veined, margins inrolled;
upper florets light yellow to white.
= 20, 40.
= 20, 30, 40.
Paspalum praecox
Paspalum notatum
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 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.)
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