Florida paspalum

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Florida paspalum spikelets

Florida paspalum habit

Florida paspalum

Florida paspalum ligule

Florida paspalum blade

Florida paspalum spikelets

Florida paspalum

Florida paspalum spikelets

Florida paspalum leaf

Florida paspalum inflorescence

Florida paspalum blade

Florida paspalum inflorescence

Morphology

Culm

Erect or ascending, solitary or few, stout, flattened, usually unbranched, glabrous.

Blades

Firm, mostly flat, 2.4 to 28 inches long, 1/5 to 3/5 inch wide; lower surface glabrous, upper surface glabrous or sparingly stiff-hairy at base; margins rough; tips long-tapering points.

Sheath

About as long as internodes, keeled, glabrous or basal sometimes stiff-hairy.

Ligule

Membrane, delicate, 1/25 to 1/10 inch long, truncate.

Inflorescence

Racemes, usually 2-5, erect to loosely ascending, thick, 1.6 to 6 inches long; rachis flattened, zig zag.

Spikelets

Crowded, nearly sessile, single or mostly in pairs on 1 side of rachis, usually overlapping, 1-flowered, nearly circular to broadly elliptic, 1/7 to 1/5 inch long, about 1/8 inch wide, pale, glabrous; first glume absent; second glume broadly elliptic to nearly circular, 1/7 to 1/6 inch long, 5-nerved, slightly wrinkled; tip rounded; sterile lemma similar; fertile lemma firm, smooth, shiny.

Ecology

Habitat

Low, sandy open areas, prairies, pastures, open woods, roadsides, stream banks, disturbed areas; moist to relatively dry soil.

Distribution

East half of Kansas.

Practical Information

Toxicity

Ergot fungi can occur in some paspalum species, but is not considered a problem in Florida paspalum.

Additional Notes