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Chinese Fountaingrass, foxtail Fountaingrass

kikuyu grass

Habit Plants perennial; cespitose. Plants perennial; rhizomatous and stoloniferous.
Culms

30-100 cm, erect;

nodes glabrous.

3-45 cm, decumbent, highly branching;

nodes glabrous.

Sheaths

glabrous, margins ciliate;

ligules 0.2-0.5 mm, membranous, ciliate;

blades (10)30-60 cm long, 2-8(12) mm wide, flat to folded, glabrous, margins ciliate basally.

glabrous or pubescent;

ligules 1.3-2.2 mm;

blades 1-15 cm long, 1-6 mm wide, flat or folded, glabrous or pubescent.

Panicles

all terminal, 6-20 cm long, 20-53 mm wide, fully exerted from the sheaths, erect, green to brown, deep purple, or stramineous to creamy-white;

rachises terete, with pubescent hairs.

2-2.7 cm, axillary, concealed in the sheaths;

rachises flat, glabrous or scabrous.

Spikelets

5.5-8.4 mm, sessile or subsessile, glabrous;

pedicels to 0.1 mm;

lower glumes 0.2-1.4 mm, veinless;

upper glumes 2-4.9 mm, to 1/2 as long as the spikelet, 1-5-veined, acute to broadly acute;

lower florets sterile;

lower lemmas 4.9-8.1 mm, 7-9(10)-veined;

lower paleas absent;

upper lemmas 5.2-7.6 mm, 5-7-veined, acuminate;

anthers 3, 3-4.5 mm.

10-22 mm, sessile or pedicellate, pedicels to 0.2 mm;

lower glumes usually absent, sometimes to 0.5 mm, veinless;

upper glumes 0-1.3(3.5) mm, veinless;

lower florets sterile;

lower lemmas 10-22 mm, 9-13-veined;

lower paleas usually absent;

upper lemmas 10-22 mm, 8-12-veined;

upper paleas 2-7-veined;

anthers 4.7-7 mm, long-exserted from the florets at anthesis.

Fascicles

9-16 per cm;

fascicle axes 1.5-5.6 mm, with a stipelike base of 1-5.6 mm and 1(2) spikelet(s);

outer bristles 13-19, 0.8-15.6 mm;

inner bristles 7-10, 11.2-30 mm, scabrous;

primary bristles 26.7-35 mm, scabrous, usually not noticeably longer than the other bristles.

1-6;

axes to 0.5 mm, with 1-2 spikelets;

outer and inner bristles alike, 6-15, 0.5-10.9 mm;

primary bristles 10-14 mm, usually not noticeably longer than the other bristles.

2n

= 18.

= 36.

Pennisetum alopecuroides

Pennisetum clandestinum

Distribution
from FNA
AR; IL; NC; NY; OH; PA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA; HI; PR; Virgin Islands
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Discussion

Pennisetum alopecuroides is native to southeast Asia. It is frequently grown as an ornamental in the Flora region.

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

Pennisetum clandestinum is native to Africa. It now grows in many parts of the world, often as a forage or lawn grass. The U.S. Department of Agriculture considers it a noxious weed. In parts of the Flora region, it is well-established in lawns.

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

Source FNA vol. 25. FNA vol. 25.
Parent taxa Poaceae > subfam. Panicoideae > tribe Paniceae > Pennisetum Poaceae > subfam. Panicoideae > tribe Paniceae > Pennisetum
Sibling taxa
P. advena, P. ciliare, P. clandestinum, P. flaccidum, P. glaucum, P. latifolium, P. macrostachys, P. macrourum, P. nervosum, P. orientale, P. pedicellatum, P. petiolare, P. polystachion, P. purpureum, P. setaceum, P. setigerum, P. villosum
P. advena, P. alopecuroides, P. ciliare, P. flaccidum, P. glaucum, P. latifolium, P. macrostachys, P. macrourum, P. nervosum, P. orientale, P. pedicellatum, P. petiolare, P. polystachion, P. purpureum, P. setaceum, P. setigerum, P. villosum
Name authority (L.) Spreng. Hochst. ex Chiov.
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