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saltwater couch, seashore paspalum

bull crowngrass, bull paspalum

Habit Plants perennial; rhizomatous and/or stoloniferous. Plants annual.
Culms

10-79 cm, erect;

nodes glabrous.

15-96 cm, erect or prostrate, often rooting at the lower nodes;

nodes glabrous.

Sheaths

glabrous, sparsely long pubescent distally;

ligules 1-2 mm;

blades 10-19 cm long, 1.4-8 mm wide, flat or conduplicate, glabrous or pubescent, apices involute.

glabrous;

ligules 1-3.2 mm;

blades to 56 cm long, 2.2-15 mm wide, flat.

Panicles

terminal, usually composed of a digitate pair of branches, a third branch sometimes present below;

branches 1.1-7.9 cm, diverging to erect;

branch axes 0.4-1.4 mm wide, winged, glabrous, margins scabrous, terminating in a spikelet.

terminal, with 1-10(28) racemosely arranged branches;

branches 1.2-8.2 cm, diverging;

branch axes 0.7-2.3 mm wide, glabrous, broadly winged, wings about as wide as the central portion, margins scabrous, terminating in a spikelet.

Spikelets

3-4.5 mm long, 1.1-2 mm wide, solitary, appressed to the branch axes, elliptic-lanceolate, glabrous, light stramineous, apices acute to acuminate.

2-2.2 mm long, 1.3-1.8 mm wide, paired, appressed to the branch axes, glabrous, broadly elliptic, obovate, or orbicular, light to dark brown.

Lower glumes

absent (rarely present);

upper glumes and lower lemmas glabrous, 3-veined;

upper florets white.

absent;

upper glumes glabrous, 5-veined, margins entire;

lower lemmas glabrous, 3-5-veined, margins entire;

upper florets dark glossy brown.

Caryopses

2.8-3.1 mm, yellow.

1.4-1.6 mm, white.

2n

= 20, 40, 60.

= 40.

Paspalum vaginatum

Paspalum boscianum

Distribution
from FNA
AL; CA; FL; GA; LA; MS; NC; SC; TX; HI; PR; Virgin Islands
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AL; AR; FL; GA; KY; LA; MD; MS; NC; PA; SC; TN; TX; VA; PR
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Paspalum vaginatum grows in brackish and salt marshes. It is native to warm, coastal regions around the world, including the Americas. It has been grown for turf and in lawn trials, but is not yet widely used for these purposes.

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

Paspalum boscianum grows in moist to dry, disturbed areas, and at the edges of forests. It is native from the southeastern United States through the West Indies and Mexico to Brazil. The California record came from a weed in a rice field.

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

Source FNA vol. 25. FNA vol. 25, p. 579.
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. repens, P. scrobiculatum, P. setaceum, P. unispicatum, P. urvillei, P. virgatum, P. virletii, P. wrightii
P. acuminatum, P. almum, P. bifidum, P. blodgettii, 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. setaceum, P. unispicatum, P. urvillei, P. vaginatum, P. virgatum, P. virletii, P. wrightii
Name authority Sw. Flüggé
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