Common names: Torpedo grass
Treatment appears in FNA Volume 25.

Plants perennial; rhizomatous, forming extensive colonies, rhizomes long, to 5 mm thick, branching, scaly, sharply pointed. Culms 20-90 cm tall, 1.8-2.8 mm thick, erect, rigid, simple or branching from the lower and middle nodes; nodes glabrous or sparsely hispid; internodes glabrous. Sheaths generally shorter than the internodes, not keeled, lower nodes glabrous or hispid, hairs papillose-based, particularly near the summits; ligules 0.5-1 mm; blades 3-25 cm long, 2-8 mm wide, often distichous, flat to slightly involute, firm, adaxial surfaces pilose basally, glabrous or sparsely pubescent abaxially. Panicles 3-24 cm long, usually less than 5 cm wide, open; primary branches 2-11 cm, alternate, few, stiffly ascending to spreading; pedicels 1-6 mm, subappressed. Spikelets 2.2-2.8 mm long, 0.8-1.3 mm wide, ellipsoid-ovoid, pale green, acute, upper glumes and lower lemmas sometimes separating (gaping) beyond the florets. Lower glumes 0.5-1 mm, 1/5 – 2/5 as long as the spikelets, glabrous, faintly 1-5-veined, subtruncate to broadly acute; upper glumes and lower lemmas glabrous, extending 0.1-0.5 mm beyond the upper florets, scarcely separated; upper glumes 7-11-veined, shorter than the lower lemmas, acute to short-acuminate; lower florets staminate; lower lemmas 7-11-veined; lower paleas 1.9-2.1 mm, oblong; upper florets 1.8-2.7 mm long, 0.7-1.3 mm wide, broadly ellipsoid, broadest at or above the middle, glabrous, shiny, smooth, apices rounded. 2n - 36, 40, 45, 54.

Distribution

Miss., Tex., La., Calif., N.C., Ala., Pacific Islands (Hawaii), Ga., S.C., Fla.

Discussion

Panicum repens grows on open, moist, sandy beaches and the shores of lakes and ponds, occasionally extend¬ing out into or onto the water. It is mostly, but not exclu¬sively, coastal. It grows on tropical and subtropical coasts throughout the world and may have been introduced to the Americas from elsewhere. Small plants having small, dense panicles of purplish spikelets with longer, subacute lower glumes have been named Panicum gouinii E. Fourn., but they intergrade with more typical plants and do not seem to merit taxonomic recognition.

Selected References

None.

Lower Taxa

None.

"decumbent" is not a number."-11-veined" is not declared as a valid unit of measurement for this property.No values specified.

... more about "Panicum repens"
pubescent +, glabrous +  and pilose +
puberulent +
54 +, 45 +  and 40 +
rounded +
anatomy +  and kranz +
Robert W. Freckmann +  and Michel G. Lelong +
1 (?) +  and 3 (?) +
keeled +  and rounded +
divergent +  and parallel +
intravaginal +, extravaginal +, branching +  and basal +
swelling +
membranous +
disarticulating +  and pseudopetiolate +
non-radiate +  and radiate +
3 cm30 mm <br />0.03 m <br /> (25 cm250 mm <br />0.25 m <br />) +
pubescent +  and glabrous +
flat +  and slightly involute +
0.2 cm2 mm <br />0.002 m <br /> (0.8 cm8 mm <br />0.008 m <br />) +
spikelike +
0 cm0 mm <br />0 m <br /> (1 cm10 mm <br />0.01 m <br />) +
not developed +
terete +  and compressed +
thick-walled +
sometimes longer +
extensive +
Torpedo grass +
small green +
branching +  and simple +
20 cm200 mm <br />0.2 m <br /> (90 cm900 mm <br />0.9 m <br />) +
20 cm200 mm <br />0.2 m <br /> (300 cm3,000 mm <br />3 m <br />) +
0.18 cm1.8 mm <br />0.0018 m <br /> (0.28 cm2.8 mm <br />0.0028 m <br />) +
Miss. +, Tex. +, La. +, Calif. +, N.C. +, Ala. +, Pacific Islands (Hawaii) +, Ga. +, S.C. +  and Fla. +
capillary +
germination +
pistillate +  and staminate +
sometimes longer +
compressed +  and terete +
shorter or longer +
subtending +
pubescent +  and glabrous +
tuberculate +
unequal +
membranous +
well-developed +
papillose-based +
uncinate +
Oval (?) +  and Round (?) +
bracteate +  and ebracteate +
hollow +  and solid +
scale-like +
coriaceous +
0.05 cm0.5 mm <br />5.0e-4 m <br /> (0.1 cm1 mm <br />0.001 m <br />) +
membranous +
inconspicuous +
1/5 +  and 2/5 +
subtruncate +  and broadly acute +
0.05 cm0.5 mm <br />5.0e-4 m <br /> (0.1 cm1 mm <br />0.001 m <br />) +
hispid +  and glabrous +
0.19 cm1.9 mm <br />0.0019 m <br /> (0.21 cm2.1 mm <br />0.0021 m <br />) +
complex +  and simple +
concealed +  and prominent +
hispid +  and glabrous +
2 +  and 1 +
3cm +  and 24cm +
subterranean +
pyramidal +
0 cm0 mm <br />0 m <br /> (5 cm50 mm <br />0.05 m <br />) +
simple +  and compound +
0.1 cm1 mm <br />0.001 m <br /> (0.6 cm6 mm <br />0.006 m <br />) +
dry +  and fleshy +
stiffly ascending;spreading +
2 cm20 mm <br />0.02 m <br /> (11 cm110 mm <br />0.11 m <br />) +
0 cm0 mm <br />0 m <br /> (0.5 cm5 mm <br />0.005 m <br />) +
pilose +  and glabrous +
not keeled +
in triplets +  and paired +
0.22 cm2.2 mm <br />0.0022 m <br /> (0.28 cm2.8 mm <br />0.0028 m <br />) +
1 +  and 60 +
unisexual +  and bisexual +
acute +  and ellipsoid-ovoid +
0.1 cm1 mm <br />0.001 m <br /> (0.8 cm8 mm <br />0.008 m <br />) +
0.8mm +  and 1.3mm +
1 +  and 3 +
compound +  and simple +
fused +  and free +
2 +  and 3 +
dome--shaped +  and triangular +
Gramineae +
Panicum repens +
Panicum sect. Repentia +
species +
membranous +
stipitate +  and sessile +
0.18 cm1.8 mm <br />0.0018 m <br /> (0.27 cm2.7 mm <br />0.0027 m <br />) +
separated +  and separating +
acute +  and short-acuminate +
pubescent +  and glabrous +
rugose +  and verrucose +
chartaceous-indurate +  and rigid +
separated +  and separating +
aquatic +  and terrestrial +
dioecious +, monoecious +  and synoecious +