Paspalum praecox |
Paspalum quadrifarium |
|
---|---|---|
early paspalum |
paja colorada, paja manse, tussock paspalum |
|
Habit | Plants perennial; shortly rhizomatous. | Plants perennial; cespitose. |
Culms | 5-160 cm, erect, not rooting at the lower nodes; nodes glabrous. |
(50)100-180 cm, erect; nodes pubescent. |
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. |
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 2-10 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, 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 | 2.1-3.1 mm long, 2-2.8 mm wide, paired, imbricate, appressed to divergent from the branch axes, orbicular to suborbicular, stramineous. |
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. |
Caryopses | 1.9-2.1 mm, brown. |
|
Lower | glumes absent; upper glumes and lower lemmas glabrous, 3-veined, margins entire; upper florets white to light yellow. |
glumes 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. |
2n | = 20, 40. |
= 20, 30, 40. |
Paspalum praecox |
Paspalum quadrifarium |
|
Distribution |
AL; AR; FL; GA; IL; LA; MS; NC; SC; TX; VA
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MS |
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 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. 597. | FNA vol. 25. |
Parent taxa | Poaceae > subfam. Panicoideae > tribe Paniceae > Paspalum | Poaceae > subfam. Panicoideae > tribe Paniceae > Paspalum |
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | P. praecox var. curtisianum, P. lentiferum | |
Name authority | Walter | Lam. |
Web links |