Rough Hair Rosette Grass

Panicum polycaulon Nash, Bull. Torrey Club 24: 200. 1897
Panicum dichotomum glabrescens Grriseb. Fl. Brit. W. Ind. 553. 1864.
Vernal phase similar to that of P. ciliatum; culms rarely more than 20 cm. high, glabrous, but pilose in the long-exserted panicle; leaf -sheaths sparingly ciliate; blades on the average narrower than those of P. ciliatum; spikelets 1.5-1.6 mm. long (exceptionally as much as 2 mm. long), 0.8 mm. wide, obovate, blunt, glabrous; first glume one third to half the length of the spikelet, subacute; second glume and sterile lemma strongly nerved; fruit 1.4 mm. long, 0.8 mm. wide, elliptic, subacute, not umbonate.
Autumnal phase in flat, soft mats, similar to those of P. xalapense, but smaller.
Type locality: Tampa, Florida.
Distribution : Florida to southern Mississippi and the Greater Antilles.

Panicum strigosum Muhl. ; Ell. Bot. S. C. & Ga. 1 : 126. 1816
Panicum laxiflorum pubescens Vasey, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 3: 30. 1892. Panicum longipedunculatum Scribn. Bull. Tenn. Exp. Sta. 7: 53. 1894.
Vernal phase similar to that of P. ciliatum, but having sparsely pilose culms and leafsheaths, bearded nodes, and blades on the average a little wider and more or less pilose on both surfaces; panicles larger, with pilose axis and branches, bearing more numerous, smaller, glabrous spikelets, the latter 1.3-1.5 mm. long, 0.7 mm. wide, obovate, less turgid than in other species of this group; first glume one third to half the length of the spikelet; second glume and sterile lemma equal, faintly nerved; fruit 1.3 mm. long, 0.6-0.7 mm. wide, elliptic, subacute, not umbonate.
Autumnal phase a dense mat, with panicles scarcely rising above the leaves.
Type locality : South Carolina.
Distribution: Virginia and Tennessee to Florida and eastern Texas, and south to Colombia; Cuba, Santo Domingo, and Jamaica.

Perennials, Terrestrial, not aquatic, Rhizomes present, Stems nodes swollen or brittle, Stems erect or ascending, Stems caespitose, tufted, or clustered, Stems terete, round in cross section, or polygonal, Stem internodes hollow, Stems with inflorescence less than 1 m tall, Stems, culms, or scapes exceeding basal leaves, Leaves mostly basal, below middle of stem, 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 hair y at summit, throat, or collar, Leaf sheath and blade differentiated, Leaf blades lanceolate, Leaf blades ovate, 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, Ligule present, Ligule an unfringed eciliate membrane, Ligule a fringe of hairs, Inflorescence terminal, Inflorescence an open panicle, openly paniculate, branches spreading, Inflorescence a contracted panicle, narrowly paniculate, branches appressed or ascending, Inflorescence solitary, with 1 spike, fascicle, glomerule, head, or cluster per stem or culm, Inflorescence branches more than 10 to numerous, Peduncle or rachis scabrous or pubescent, often with long hairs, Flowers bisexual, Spikelets pedicellate, Spikelets dorsally compressed or terete, Inflorescence or spikelets partially hidden in leaf sheaths, subtended by spatheole, Spikelet less than 3 mm wide, Spikelets with 1 fertile floret, Spikelets with 2 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 coriaceous, firmer or thicker in texture than the glumes, Lemma becoming indurate, enclosing palea and caryopsis, Lemma 3 nerved, Lemma 5-7 nerved, Lemma 8-15 nerved, Lemma glabrous, Lemma apex truncate, rounded, or obtuse, 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.