Water Paspalum (Paspalum fluitans)
- Family: Grass (Poaceae)
- Flowering: July-October.
- Field Marks: This is one of the few species of Paspalum that has the rachis to which the spikelets are attached broader and wider than the spikelets themselves. It has at least 5 spikes per plant, and each spikelet is less than 1/12 inch long.
- Habitat: Sloughs, bayous, along streams, around lakes and ponds, sometimes in standing water.
- Habit: Floating or creeping perennial herb.
- Stems: Floating or creeping, much branched, smooth, up to 3 feet long.
- Leaves: Up to 12 inches long, up to 1 inch wide, long-pointed at the tip, rough to the touch, with roughened sheaths.
- Flowers: One per spikelet, with many spikelets forming a spike; each spikelet hairy, less than 1/12 inch long, elliptic, in 2 rows; all spikelets borne on a rachis that is broader than the spikelets; spikes 5 or more per stem.
- Stamens: 3.
- Pistils: Ovary superior.
- Grains: Ovoid, smooth.
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