Flora of North America species comparison

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Paspalum praecox

Paspalum setaceum

early paspalum

fringeleaf paspalum, sand paspalum, slender beadgrass, slender crown grass, thin paspalum
Habit Plants perennial; shortly rhizomatous. Plants perennial; cespitose or shortly rhizomatous.
Culms

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

nodes glabrous.

25-110 cm, erect, spreading, or prostrate;

nodes glabrous or 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.

glabrous or pubescent;

ligules 0.2-0.5 mm;

blades 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 and axillary, with 1-6 racemosely axillary arranged branches, panicles partially or completely enclosed by the subtending leaf sheath;

branches 2-12(17) cm, ascending to spreading, often arcuate, terminating in a spikelet;

branch axes 0.2-1.2 mm wide, glabrous, sometimes scabrous.
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.

1.4-2.6 mm long, paired, imbricate, appressed to the branch axes, elliptic to obovate to ovate to orbicular, stramineous or brown.
Caryopses

1.9-2.1 mm, brown.

elliptic to suborbicular, white.
Lower

glumes absent;

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

upper florets white to light yellow.

glumes absent;

upper glumes and lower lemmas glabrous or shortly glandular-pubescent, 3-veined, margins entire;

lower lemmas lacking ribs over the veins;

upper florets stramineous.
2n

= 20, 40.

= 20.

Paspalum praecox

Paspalum setaceum
Distribution
from FNA
AL; AR; FL; GA; IL; LA; MS; NC; SC; TX; VA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AL; AR; AZ; CO; CT; DC; DE; FL; GA; IA; IL; IN; KS; KY; LA; MA; MD; MI; MN; MO; MS; MT; NC; NE; NH; NJ; NM; NY; OH; OK; PA; RI; SC; SD; TN; TX; VA; VT; WI; WV; PR; ON
[WildflowerSearch map]
[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 setaceum is a variable species that grows east of the Rocky Mountains in the contiguous United States and Mexico. The following treatment summarizes the major patterns of variation within the species. Some specimens will be hard to place, particularly old herbarium specimens that have lost their color. Nine varieties grow in the Flora region.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Key
1. Leaf blades conspicuously basal, recurved, 3-10 mm wide; lower lemmas without evident midveins.
→ 2
2. Leaf blades yellowish-green, usually glabrous; spikelets usually glabrous, not spotted
var. longepedunculatum
2. Leaf blades grayish-green, hirsute; spikelets short pubescent, often spotted
var. villosissimutn
1. Leaf blades more evenly distributed, lax to straight, 1.5-20 mm wide; lower lemmas with or without evident midveins.
→ 3
3. Leaf blades glabrous (or almost so) on the surfaces, sometimes ciliate on the margins.
→ 4
4. Leaf blades 2.4-6.1 mm wide, stiff; spikelets 2-2.6 mm long
var. rigidifolium
4. Leaf blades 3-18 mm wide, lax to somewhat stiff but, if somewhat stiff, more than 6 mm wide; spikelets 1.7-2.4 mm long.
→ 5
5. Lower lemmas without evident midveins; blades yellowish-green to dark green
var. stramineum
5. Lower lemmas with evident midveins; blades dark green to purplish
var. ciliatifolium
3. Leaf blades evidently hirsute on the surfaces as well as on the margins.
→ 6
6. Plants widely spreading to prostrate.
→ 7
7. Leaf blades grayish-green; lower lemmas without evident midveins
var. psammophilum
7. Leaf blades yellowish-green; lower lemmas with or without evident midveins
var. supinum
6. Plants erect to spreading.
→ 8
8. Lower lemmas usually with evident midveins; spikelets 1.8-2.5 mm long, usually glabrous, light green to green
var. muhlenbergii
8. Lower lemmas usually without evident midveins; spikelets 1.4-2.4 mm long, usually pubescent, pale yellow to light green.
→ 9
9. Leaves grayish-green; blades 1.5-7 mm wide, always conspicuously hirsute
var. setaceum
9. Leaves yellowish-green to dark green; blades 3.3-13.5 mm wide, almost glabrous or conspicuously hirsute
var. stramineum
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
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. minus, 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. unispicatum, P. urvillei, P. vaginatum, P. virgatum, P. virletii, P. wrightii
Subordinate taxa
P. setaceum var. ciliatifolium, P. setaceum var. longepedunculatum, P. setaceum var. muhlenbergii, P. setaceum var. psammophilum, P. setaceum var. rigidifolium, P. setaceum var. setaceum, P. setaceum var. stramineum, P. setaceum var. supinum, P. setaceum var. villosissimutn
Synonyms P. praecox var. curtisianum, P. lentiferum
Name authority Walter Michx.
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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