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Vascular Plants of California
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Panicum capillare

WITCH GRASS


Higher Taxonomy
Family: Poaceae (Gramineae)View DescriptionDichotomous Key
Common Name: GRASS FAMILY
Habit: Annual to woody perennial herb; roots generally fibrous. Stem: generally round, hollow; nodes swollen, solid. Leaf: alternate, 2-ranked, generally linear, parallel-veined; 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; perianth vestigial; stamens generally 3; stigmas generally 2, generally plumose. Fruit: grain, sometimes achene- or utricle-like.
Genera In Family: 650--900 genera; +- 10550 species: worldwide; greatest economic importance of any family (wheat, rice, maize, millet, sorghum, sugar cane, forage crops, ornamental, weeds; thatching, weaving, building materials). Note: Generally wind-pollinated. Achnatherum, Ampelodesmos, Hesperostipa, Nassella, Piptatherum, Piptochaetium, Ptilagrostis moved to Stipa; Elytrigia, Leymus, Pascopyrum, Pseudoroegneria, Taeniatherum to Elymus; Hierochloe to Anthoxanthum; Lolium, Vulpia to Festuca; Lycurus to Muhlenbergia; Monanthochloe to Distichlis; Pleuraphis to Hilaria; Rhynchelytrum to Melinis. The following taxa (in genera not included here), recorded in California from historical collections or reported in literature, are extirpated, lacking vouchers, or not considered naturalized: Acrachne racemosa (Roth) Ohwi, Allolepis texana (Vasey) Soderstr. & H.F. Decker, Amphibromus nervosus (Hook. f.) Baill., Axonopus affinis Chase, Axonopus fissifolius (Raddi) Kuhlm., Coix lacryma-jobi L., Cutandia memphitica (Spreng.) K. Richt., Dinebra retroflexa (Vahl) Panz., Eremochloa ciliaris (L.) Merr., Eustachys distichophylla (Lag.) Nees, Gaudinia fragilis (L.) P. Beauv., Miscanthus sinensis Andersson, Neyraudia arundinacea (L.) Henrard, Phyllostachys aurea Rivière & C. Rivière, Phyllostachys bambusoides Siebold & Zuccarini, Rottboellia cochinchinensis (Lour.) Clayton, Schedonnardus paniculatus (Nutt.) Branner & Coville, Schizachyrium cirratum (Hack.) Wooton & Standl., Schizachyrium scoparium (Michx.) Nash, Themeda quadrivalvis (L.) Kuntze, Thysanolaena latifolia (Hornem.) Honda, Tribolium obliterum (Hemsl.) Renvoize, Zea mays L., Zizania palustris L. var. interior (Fassett) Dore, Zoysia japonica Steud. Paspalum pubiflorum E. Fourn., Paspalum quadrifarium Lam., are now reported for southern California (J Bot Res Inst Texas 4:761--770). See Glossary p. 30 for illustrations of general family characteristics.
eFlora Treatment Author: James P. Smith, Jr., except as noted
Scientific Editor: James P. Smith, Jr., J. Travis Columbus, Dieter H. Wilken.
Genus: PanicumView DescriptionDichotomous Key


Common Name: PANIC GRASS
Habit: Annual, perennial herb. Stem: generally erect or ascending; internode solid to hollow. Leaf: basal and cauline, similar or dissimilar, basal rosette well developed or not; blade generally flat or rolled under; sheath glabrous or hairy; ligule short-hairy or membranous, ciliate, hairs generally > membrane, with an adjacent false ligule of longer hairs in some species Inflorescence: panicle-like, generally open; 1° branches spreading to ascending; 2° main branches simple or forked at base; 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 +- purple; 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 or partly flat, tip blunt, palea +- enclosed by lemma margin.
Etymology: (Latin: ancient name for millet) Note: Subg. Dichanthelium often recognized as distinct, monophyletic genus, as in FNANM by Freckmann; based on editorial decision, Panicum treated here to include Dichanthelium, which is phylogenetically nested in Panicum.
eFlora Treatment Author: Robert W. Freckmann & Robert Webster
Reference: Freckmann & Lelong 2003 FNANM 25:406--450, 450--488
Panicum capillare L.
NATIVE
Habit: Annual. Stem: 2--10 dm. Leaf: sheath 4--8 cm, short-hairy; ligule membrane 0.5--1.5 mm, ciliate; blade 5--30 cm, 5--20 mm wide, upper surface short-soft- to rough-hairy. Inflorescence: 15--40 cm, open; 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, acute; lower floret sterile, lemma 7-veined, tapered to a tail-like tip, palea generally 0; upper floret +- 0.8 × lower floret. Chromosomes: 2n=18.
Ecology: Open places, fields, roadsides; Elevation: < 1500 m. Bioregional Distribution: CA; Distribution Outside California: to Canada, eastern United States. Flowering Time: Feb--Dec
Jepson eFlora Author: Robert W. Freckmann & Robert Webster
Reference: Freckmann & Lelong 2003 FNANM 25:406--450, 450--488
Index of California Plant Names (ICPN; linked via the Jepson Online Interchange)

Previous taxon: Panicum antidotale
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Citation for this treatment: Robert W. Freckmann & Robert Webster 2012, Panicum capillare, in Jepson Flora Project (eds.) Jepson eFlora, https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_display.php?tid=36094, accessed on December 02, 2024.

Citation for the whole project: Jepson Flora Project (eds.) 2024, Jepson eFlora, https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/, accessed on December 02, 2024.

Panicum capillare
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©2011 Steve Matson
Panicum capillare
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©2011 Steve Matson
Panicum capillare
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©2011 Steve Matson
Panicum capillare
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©2019 Barry Breckling
Panicum capillare
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©2008 Keir Morse

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Geographic subdivisions for Panicum capillare:
CA
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map of distribution 1

(Note: any qualifiers in the taxon distribution description, such as 'northern', 'southern', 'adjacent' etc., are not reflected in the map above, and in some cases indication of a taxon in a subdivision is based on a single collection or author-verified occurrence).






 

Data provided by the participants of the  Consortium of California Herbaria.

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All markers link to CCH specimen records. The original determination is shown in the popup window.
Blue markers indicate specimens that map to one of the expected Jepson geographic subdivisions (see left map). Purple markers indicate specimens collected from a garden, greenhouse, or other non-wild location.
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CCH collections by month Flowering-Fruiting Monthly Counts

Duplicates counted once; synonyms included.
Species do not include records of infraspecific taxa, if there are more than 1 infraspecific taxon in CA.
Blue line denotes eFlora flowering time (fruiting time in some monocot genera).