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Bulb Panicgrass

Panicum bulbosum Kunth

Comprehensive Description

provided by North American Flora
Panicum bulbosum H. B. K. Nov. Gen. & Sp. 1: 99. 1815
Panicum avenaceum H. B. K. Nov. Gen. & Sp. 1: 99. 1815. Panicum gongylodes Jacq. f. Bclog. Gram. 30. 1815. Panicum confusum Trin.; Nees, Agrost. Bras. 174, as synonym. 1829. Panicum nodosum Willd.; Steud. Nom. ed. 2. 2: 260, as synonym. 1841. Panicum maximum gongylodes Doell, in Mart. Fl. Bras. 2 2 : 203. 1877. Panicum maximum bulbosum Vasey, in Rothr. Bot. Wheeler's Surv. 295. 1878. Panicum polygamum gongylodes Fourn. Mex. PL Gram. 28. 1886. Panicum bulbosum avenaceum Beal, Grasses N. Am. 2: 132. 1896.
Plants in tufts of few to several culms, 1-2 meters high ; culms robust, erect, glabrous, the lowest internode thickened into a hard, corm-like base, 1-2 cm. thick, budding at the base, sometimes one or more corms of previous years attached; leaf-sheaths shorter than the internodes, glabrous or scabrous to pilose toward the summit, the lower often appressed-pubescent at base; ligule scarcely 1 mm. long; blades erect or ascending, flat, 25-60 cm. long, 3-12 mm. wide, scabrous on the upper surface, often pilose toward the base, glabrous beneath; panicles long-exserted, 20-50 cm. long, usually about half as wide, rather many-flowered, the slender, flexuous branches ascending or somewhat spreading, solitary or fascicled, naked at the base, the branchlets 1 to several cm. long, bearing scarcely clustered, rather short-pediceled spikelets, the axes and pedicels very scabrous; spikelets 3.5-4.2 mm. long, 1.2-1.4 mm. wide, slightly pointed, more strongly nerved than in P. maximum, glabrous, commonly purplish; first glume half to two thirds the length of the spikelet, bluntly pointed, 3-nerved; second glume shorter than the fruit and sterile lemma, the latter rarely inclosing a staminate flower; fruit 3.2-4 mm. long, narrowly ovate, more finely transversely rugose than in P. maximum, the bluntly pointed apex puberulent.
Type locality: Near Guanajuato, Guanajuato. Distribution: New Mexico to Arizona and southern Mexico.
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bibliographic citation
George Valentine Nash. 1915. (POALES); POACEAE (pars). North American flora. vol 17(3). New York Botanical Garden, New York, NY
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Physical Description

provided by USDA PLANTS text
Perennials, Terrestrial, not aquatic, Bulbs present, Rhizomes present, Rhizome short and compact, stems close, Stems nodes swollen or brittle, Stems erect or ascending, Stems caespitose, tufted, or clustered, Stems swollen at base, tuberous, cormous or bulbous, Stems terete, round in cross section, or polygonal, Stems compressed, flattened, or sulcate, Stems branching above base or distally at nodes, Stem nodes bearded or hairy, Stem internodes hollow, Stems with inflorescence less than 1 m tall, Stems with inflorescence 1-2 m tall, Stems, culms, or scapes exceeding basal leaves, Leaves mostly cauline, Leaves conspicuously 2-ranked, distichous, Leaves sheathing at base, Leaf sheath mostly open, or loose, Leaf sheath smooth, glabrous, Leaf sheath hairy, hispid or prickly, Leaf sheath or blade keeled, Leaf sheath and blade differentiated, Leaf blades linear, Leaf blades 2-10 mm wide, Leaf blades 1-2 cm wide, Leaf blades mostly flat, Leaf blades mostly glabrous, Leaf blades more or less hairy, Leaf blades scabrous, roughened, or wrinkled, Ligule present, Ligule a fringed, ciliate, or lobed membrane, Inflorescence terminal, Inflorescence an open panicle, openly paniculate, branches spreading, Inflorescence solitary, with 1 spike, fascicle, glomerule, head, or cluster per stem or culm, Inflorescence lax, widely spreading, branches drooping, pendulous, Inflorescence branches more than 10 to numerous, Flowers bisexual, Spikelets pedicellate, Spikelets dorsally compressed or terete, Spikelet less than 3 mm wide, Spikelets with 1 fertile floret, Spikelets with 2 florets, Spikelet with 1 fertile floret and 1-2 sterile florets, Spikelets solitary at rachis nodes, Spikelets all alike and fertille, Spikelets bisexual, Spikelets disarticulating below the glumes, Rachilla or pedicel glabrous, Glumes present, empty bracts, Glumes 2 clearly present, Glumes distinctly unequal, Glumes equal to or longer than adjacent lemma, Glume equal to or longer than spikelet, Glumes 3 nerved, Glumes 4-7 nerved, Lemma similar in texture to glumes, Lemma 5-7 nerved, Lemma glabrous, Lemma body or surface hairy, Lemma rugose, with cross wrinkles, or roughened, Lemma apex acute or acuminate, Lemma awnless, Lemma margins inrolled, tightly covering palea and caryopsis, Lemma straight, Palea present, well developed, Palea about equal to lemma, Stamens 3, Styles 2-fid, deeply 2-branched, Stigmas 2, Fruit - caryopsis, Caryopsis ellipsoid, longitudinally grooved, hilum long-linear.
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cc-by-nc-sa-3.0
compiler
Dr. David Bogler
source
Missouri Botanical Garden
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USDA NRCS NPDC
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USDA PLANTS text