TREATMENT FROM THE JEPSON MANUAL	previous taxon | next taxon Jepson Interchange (more information)
	©Copyright 1993 by the Regents of the University of California Print edition is available from the University of California Press

	The second edition of The Jepson Manual (2012) is available from the University of California Press
	See also the Jepson eFlora, which parallels the Second Edition

POACEAE

GRASS FAMILY

James P. Smith, Jr., except as specified

Annual to bamboo-like; roots generally fibrous
Stem generally round, hollow; nodes swollen, solid
Leaves alternate, 2-ranked, generally linear; sheath generally open; ligule membranous or hairy, at blade base
Inflorescence various (of generally many spikelets)
Spikelet: glumes generally 2; florets (lemma, palea, flower) 1–many; lemma generally membranous, sometimes glume-like; palea generally ± transparent, ± enclosed by lemma
Flower generally bisexual, minute; stamens generally 3; stigmas generally 2, generally plumose
Fruit: achene-like grain
Genera in family: 650–900 genera; ± 10,000 species: worldwide; greatest economic importance of any family (wheat, rice, maize, millet, sorghum, sugar cane, forage crops, ornamental, weeds; thatching, weaving, building materials). [Hitchcock 1951 Manual grasses US, USDA Misc Publ 200; Clayton & Renvoise 1986 Kew Bull Add Series 13] See Glossary p. 26 for illustrations of general family characteristics. Generally wind-pollinated.

PANICUM

MILLET, PANICGRASS

Robert Webster

Annual, perennial herb
Stems generally erect; internode solid to hollow inside
Leaves basal and cauline; sheath glabrous or hairy; ligule short-hairy or membranous, ciliate, hairs generally > membrane
Inflorescence panicle-like, generally open; 1° branches spreading to ascending; 2° branches spreading to appressed; spikelets many, 1–2 per node, generally stalked, on one side of axis or not, stalk tip expanded, one side concave
Spikelet falling as 1 unit, ± compressed, generally green to purplish; glumes generally unequal, lower generally < upper, free, clasping, upper glume ± = spikelet, membranous, ± thin; florets 2, lower sterile or staminate, lemma texture like glumes, upper floret fertile, lemma leathery to hard, firm, generally shiny, smooth to rough, margin inrolled, tip blunt, palea enclosed by lemma margin
Species in genus: ± 450 species: tropical to warm temp, worldwide
Etymology: (Latin: ancient name for millet)
Reference: [Spellenberg 1975 Brittonia 27:87–95]
Some species cultivated for food.

Native

P. capillare L.

WITCHGRASS

Annual
Stem 2–9 dm
Leaf: sheath 4–8 cm, short-hairy; ligule 0.5–1.5 mm, tip hairy; blade 6–22 cm, 6–20 mm wide, upper surface short-soft-hairy to roughly hairy
Inflorescence 15–40 cm; 1° branches 12–30 cm, axis sparsely short-hairy; spikelet 1 per node; stalk 2–6 mm
Spikelet 2–3.5 mm, ± 1 mm wide, lanceolate to elliptic; lower glume ± 1–1.5 mm, 3-veined; lower floret sterile, lemma 7-veined, tapered to a tail-like tip, palea generally 0; upper floret ± 0.8 X lower floret length
Chromosomes: 2n=18
Ecology: Open places, fields
Elevation: < 1500 m.
Bioregional distribution: California
Distribution outside California: to Canada, e US
Flowering time: Jul–Sep