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Panicum capillare - witchgrass

Scientific Family
Poaceae
Synonyms
Panicum barbipulvinatum
Plant type
Grasses
Riparian
Yes

Grass Description

Origin
Native
Season
Warm

Grows in open areas, particulary common in moist, disturbed sites such as fields, pastures, roadsides, and waste places.

Plant Community
Disturbed Areas
Riparian
Low elevation
4900
High elevation
8000

General Description

Stems erect or spreading at the base, often much branched. Stems are hairy at their nodes.

Annual, highly branched, stems spread from the base. Seedhead open, spreading, often partially in the sheath, falling intact when mature. Spikelets rounded, 2-flowered and reddish-purple in color. Blades hairy, flat. Ligule membranous with stiff hairs.

Grass type
Annual
Rhizomes
No
Stolons
No
Clump Diameter 2 ft or more
No
Bushy - highly branched
No
Height with Seedheads
24 inches or more
Seedhead Structure
Branched - open and spreading
Seedhead droops
No
First bloom month
July
Last bloom month
October

Flower Characteristics

Flowers per Spikelet
Multi-flowered
Spikelets One-Sided
No
Awns
Absent
Three Awns
No
Awns bent
No
Flower and Seedhead Notes

Seedheads large and dome-shaped, often more than half the length of the plant and often hidden in the sheaths. Mature seedhead breaks away from the plant as a unit, becoming a tumbleweed. Spikelets reddish-purple, 2-flowered, with one fertile floret.

Vegetative Characteristics

Blade is hairy
Yes
Blade margins white
No
Blade cross-section
Flat
Folded

Blades 8 to 10 inches long, flat or folded and hairy on both surfaces.

Sheath is hairy
Yes
Tufts of hair top of sheath or collar
No
Ligule
Membranous and hairy
Auricles
No

Not available.