Paspalum vaginatum |
Paspalum unispicatum |
|
---|---|---|
saltwater couch, seashore paspalum |
one-spike paspalum |
|
Habit | Plants perennial; rhizomatous and/or stoloniferous. | Plants perennial; rhizomatous, not rooting at the lower nodes. |
Culms | 10-79 cm, erect; nodes glabrous. |
50-80 cm, erect. |
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, pubescent apically, margins scarious; ligules 1-2 mm, membranous, lacerate; blades 3-4 mm wide, flat, glabrous, pubescent behind the ligules, margins papillose-ciliate. |
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. |
|
Inflorescence | terminal, erect, a spicate raceme 7-15 cm long, or a panicle with 1-2 subterminal spicate branches that are wholly or partially enclosed in the upper sheath, often arcuate; branches 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. |
2.7-3 mm, paired, imbricate, obovate, stramineous. |
Lower glumes | absent (rarely present); upper glumes and lower lemmas glabrous, 3-veined; upper florets white. |
absent, or 1-2.3 mm; upper glumes and lower lemmas glabrous, 3-veined, margins entire; lower lemma lacking ribs over the veins; lower florets often staminate; lower paleas 2.5-2.9 mm, membranous; upper florets 2.3-2.9 mm, white, stramineous, or golden brown. |
Caryopses | 2.8-3.1 mm, yellow. |
|
2n | = 20, 40, 60. |
= 40. |
Paspalum vaginatum |
Paspalum unispicatum |
|
Distribution |
AL; CA; FL; GA; LA; MS; NC; SC; TX; HI; PR; Virgin Islands
|
TX |
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 unispicatum grows in sandy soil in the coastal plain of Texas and extends southward through Mexico and Central America to Cuba and Paraguay, Uruguay, and Argentina. It has not been reported from Brazil. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 25. | FNA vol. 25. |
Parent taxa | Poaceae > subfam. Panicoideae > tribe Paniceae > Paspalum | Poaceae > subfam. Panicoideae > tribe Paniceae > Paspalum |
Sibling taxa | ||
Name authority | Sw. | (Scribn. & Merr.) Nash |
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