Western Wetland Flora
Field Office Guide to Plant Species
Panicum dichotomiflorum Michx.
- Family: Grass (Gramineae)
- Flowering: August-September
- Field Marks: This Panicum differs from all other panicums in that the first (lowest) glume is only 1/20 inch long and never 1/2 as long as the second glume.
- Habitat: Wet meadows, along streams.
- Habit: Tufted annual grass with fibrous roots.
- Stems: Upright, usually branched from below, hollow, up to 5 feet tall, without hairs.
- Leaves: Elongated, narrow, flat, up to 3/4 inch wide, smooth or slightly rough to the touch.
- Flowers: Borne in 1-flowered spikelets, with many spikelets in an open panicle; panicle up to 10 inches long; spikelets 1/6-1/5 inch long, smooth; first (lowest) glume about 1/20 inch long, less than 1/2 as long as second glume; lemma 1/8-1/6 in
- Sepals: 0.
- Petals: 0.
- Stamens: 3.
- Pistils: Ovary superior.
- Grains: Ovoid, smooth.
- Notes: The grains are eaten by birds.
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