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water paspalum

blue crowngrass, blue paspalum

Habit Plants annual; aquatic, floating or rhizomatous. Plants perennial; cespitose.
Culms

4-55 cm, erect;

nodes pubescent.

20-60 cm, erect, base swollen, bulblike;

cataphylls pubescent;

nodes sparsely pubescent or glabrous.

Sheaths

glabrous or pubescent;

ligules 1-4 mm;

blades 10-40 cm long, 8-22 mm wide, flat, glabrous or sparsely pubescent.

pubescent or glabrous;

ligules 0.2-0.4 mm;

blades to 25 cm long, 1.9-6.2 mm wide, flat, glabrous, pubescent behind the ligules, margins scabrous, often ciliate basally.

Panicles

terminal, with (7)20-70 racemosely arranged branches;

branches 1.2-9.5 cm, diverging to spreading, occasionally arcuate, disarticulating at maturity;

branch axes 0.7-1.5 mm wide, broadly winged, glabrous, margins scabrous, extending beyond the distal spikelet.

terminal, with 2-5(8) racemosely arranged branches;

branches 0.9-4.4 cm, divergent to spreading, terminating in a spikelet;

branch axes 0.2-0.5 mm wide, narrowly winged.

Spikelets

1.1-1.9 mm long, 0.5-0.8 mm wide, solitary, appressed to the branch axes, elliptic, pubescent, white.

1.3-2 mm long, 0.7-1 mm wide, paired (rarely appearing solitary as a result of aborted spikelets), imbricate, appressed to the branch axes, elliptic.

Lower glumes

absent;

upper glumes and lower lemmas veinless;

upper florets white.

absent;

upper glumes and lower lemmas glabrous or sparsely and shortly pubescent basally or around the margins, 5-veined, margins entire;

lower lemmas lacking ribs over the veins;

upper florets 1.3-1.8 mm, stramineous to golden brown.

Caryopses

0.8-0.9 mm, translucent, white.

1.2-1.4 mm, ellipsoid, amber.

2n

= 20.

= 40.

Paspalum repens

Paspalum caespitosum

Distribution
from USDA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AL; FL; PR; Virgin Islands
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Paspalum repens is a native species that grows along the edges of lakes, streams, and roadside ditches in the southeastern United States. Its range extends through tropical America to Peru, Bolivia, and Argentina.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Paspalum caespitosum grows in hammocks and sandy pinelands. It is native in southern Alabama, Florida, the West Indies, Mexico, and Central America.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Source FNA vol. 25, p. 571. FNA vol. 25, p. 594.
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. praecox, P. pubiflorum, P. quadrifarium, P. racemosum, 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. 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. setaceum, P. unispicatum, P. urvillei, P. vaginatum, P. virgatum, P. virletii, P. wrightii
Synonyms P. repens var. fluitans, P. fluitans
Name authority P.J. Bergius Flüggé
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