BEAKED PANIC GRASS
File Size: 103 KB
 
Panicum anceps  Michx.
Cherokee County, Kansas
Perennial
Height: 14- 40 inches
Family: Poaceae - Grass Family
Flowering Period:   July, August, September
Also Called: Beaked panicum.
Culms: Slender, erect or ascending, hollow, flattened near base, glabrous to scabrous.
Blades: Basal and cauline, arched or spreading; blades elongate, 6 to 20 inches long, .2 to .5 inch wide, flat or slightly folded lengthwise, mid-vein prominent, glabrous to sparsely pubescent, densely pubescent near base on upper surface, margins often ciliate.
Sheaths: Mostly longer than internodes, mostly keeled, glabrous or sparsely pilose.
Ligules: Minute brown membrane
Inflorescences: Panicles, terminal or axillary, 6 to 16 inches, open, branches ascending or spreading, re-branching, ultimate branchlets mostly appressed, appearing somewhat one-sided.
Spikelets: Spikelets oriented in 2 rows, bent obliquely on short pedicels, narrowly elliptic-ovate, .1 to .15 inch long, sharply pointed; glumes unequal, awnless; lower glume 1/3 to 1/2 length of spikelet, ovate, .04 to .08 inch, keeled, 3-5-nerved, glabrous, tip bluntly to sharply pointed; upper glume narrowly elliptic-ovate, .09 to .14 inch, 5- or 7-nerved, tip acuminate; lowermost lemma usually sterile, narrowly elliptic-ovate, 5-nerved; fertile lemma narrowly oblong-elliptic, bluntly pointed; palea with minute tuft of hairs at tip.
Habitat: Low moist areas, ditches, stream banks, roadsides, marsh borders; prefers shade.
Distribution: Southeast corner of Kansas
Origin: Native
Forage Value: Beaked panicum has good grazing value for cattle and horses, but is rarely abundant.
Uses: Upland birds and waterfowl eat the seeds.
Comments: Forms dense clumps from long, creeping rhizomes.
Beaked panic grass
117 KB
Cherokee County, Kansas
Beaked panic grass spikelets
52 KB
Cherokee County, Kansas
Beaked panic grass inflorescence
108 KB
Cherokee County, Kansas