Scientific Family
Poaceae
Synonyms
Panicum pampinosum, Panicum alatum
Other common names
witchgrass
roughstalk witchgrass
woodland panic
Plant type
Grasses
Riparian
No
Grass Description
Origin
Native
Season
Warm
Dry slopes, plains and sandy washes and in open woodlands and ponderosa pine forests.
Plant Community
Interior Chaparral
Montane Conifer Forest
Pinyon Juniper Woodlands
Grasslands
Low elevation
3500
High elevation
7500
General Description
Stem nodes swollen or brittle, stems erect to reclining on the ground with tips ascending, 8 to 43 inches tall. Branched seedheads 3-1/2 to 12 inches long, 1/4 to 1/2 inch wide, erect or nodding.
Spikelets less than 1/4 inch long and like other Panicums sp. round and awnless. Branched seedhead less than half the length of the seedhead stem, the branches not wide-spreading.
Grass type
Annual
Rhizomes
No
Stolons
No
Clump Diameter 2 ft or more
No
Bushy - highly branched
No
Height with Seedheads
Greater than 36 inches
Seedhead Structure
Branched - open and spreading
Seedhead droops
Yes
First bloom month
June
Last bloom month
September
Flower Characteristics
Flowers per Spikelet
Multi-flowered
Spikelets One-Sided
No
Awns
Absent
Three Awns
No
Awns bent
No
Flower and Seedhead Notes
Spikelets are 1/16 to 1/4 inch long, ovoid, reddish-brown with prominent veins, 2-flowered, the first floret reduced to a sterile lemma and the second floret fertile.
Vegetative Characteristics
Blade is hairy
Yes
Blade margins white
No
Blade cross-section
Flat
Blades are flat with clasping bases, 1 to 12 inches long, 1/8 to 1-1/4 inches wide.
Sheath is hairy
Yes
Tufts of hair top of sheath or collar
Yes
Ligule
Membranous and hairy
Auricles
No
Not available.