- Family:
- Poaceae Barnhart
- Genus:
- Panicum L.
Panicum virgatum L.
[GB]
- Morphology General Habit
- Perennial; caespitose. Rhizomes elongated; scaly. Culms 60-300 cm long. Culm-nodes glabrous, or bearded. Lateral branches lacking. Leaf-sheaths glabrous on surface. Ligule a ciliolate membrane; 1.5-3 mm long. Leaf-blades 10-60 cm long; 3-15 mm wide. Leaf-blade surface glabrous, or pilose.
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences
- Inflorescence a panicle. Panicle open; ovate; 15-55 cm long. Spikelets solitary. Fertile spikelets pedicelled.
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences Spikelets
- Spikelets comprising 1 basal sterile florets; 1 fertile florets; without rhachilla extension. Spikelets ovate; dorsally compressed; 3-5 mm long; falling entire.
- Fertile
- Spikelets comprising 1 basal sterile florets; 1 fertile florets; without rhachilla extension. Spikelets ovate; dorsally compressed; 3-5 mm long; falling entire.
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Inflorescences Bracts Glume
- Glumes reaching apex of florets; thinner than fertile lemma. Lower glume ovate; clasping; 0.66-0.75 length of spikelet; membranous; without keels; 5 -veined. Lower glume apex acuminate. Upper glume ovate; 1 length of spikelet; membranous; without keels; 7 -veined. Upper glume apex acuminate.
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers Florets
- Basal sterile florets male; with palea. Lemma of lower sterile floret similar to upper glume; ovate; 1 length of spikelet; membranous; 5 -veined; acuminate. Fertile lemma ovate; dorsally compressed; 2.5-3.5 mm long; indurate; pallid; shiny; without keel. Lemma margins involute. Lemma apex acute. Palea involute; indurate.
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Flowers
- Anthers 3.
- Morphology Reproductive morphology Fruits
- Caryopsis with adherent pericarp.
- Distribution
- Asia-temperate: Soviet Middle Asia. North America: western Canada, eastern Canada, northwest USA, north-central USA, northeast USA, southwest USA, south-central USA, southeast USA, and Mexico. South America: Caribbean and southern South America.
- Reference
- Paniceae. Gr Texas 1993.
Native to:
Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Belize, Bermuda, Colorado, Connecticut, Cuba, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Honduras, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Manitoba, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mexico Central, Mexico Gulf, Mexico Northeast, Mexico Northwest, Mexico Southeast, Mexico Southwest, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Nova Scotia, Ohio, Oklahoma, Ontario, Pennsylvania, Québec, Rhode I., Saskatchewan, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming
Introduced into:
Austria, Belgium, Brazil North, Brazil Northeast, Brazil Southeast, China North-Central, China South-Central, China Southeast, Great Britain, Hawaii, India, Japan, Korea
- Chasea virgata (L.) Nieuwl.
- Eatonia purpurascens Raf.
- Ichnanthus glaber Link ex Steud.
- Milium virgatum (L.) Lunell
- Milium virgatum var. elongatum (Vasey) Lunell
- Panicum buchingeri E.Fourn.
- Panicum coloratum Walter
- Panicum giganteum Scheele
- Panicum glaberrimum Steud.
- Panicum ichnanthoides E.Fourn.
- Panicum kunthii E.Fourn.
- Panicum pruinosum Bernh. ex Trin.
- Panicum virgatum var. breviramosum Nash
- Panicum virgatum var. confertum Vasey
- Panicum virgatum var. cubense Griseb.
- Panicum virgatum subsp. cubense (Griseb.) Borhidi
- Panicum virgatum var. diffusum Vasey
- Panicum virgatum var. elongatum Vasey
- Panicum virgatum var. scorteum H.P.Linder
- Panicum virgatum var. spissum H.P.Linder
- Panicum virgatum var. thyrsiforme H.P.Linder
- English
- Common Switchgrass
Panicum virgatum L. appears in other Kew resources:
| Date | Reference | Identified As | Barcode | Type Status | Has image? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wright, C. [3873], Cuba | K000309162 | Yes | |||
| Wright, C. [131], Cuba | K000309164 | Yes | |||
| Glaziou, A.F.M. [244], Brazil | K001078457 | Yes | |||
| Wright, C. [60], Cuba | K000309163 | Yes | |||
| Janssen, A. [673], Brazil | K001078448 | Yes | |||
| Fernald, M. L., Long, B. [19760], Nova Scotia | Panicum virgatum var. spissum | K000674441 | Yes |
First published in Sp. Pl.: 59 (1753)
Accepted by
- Acevedo-Rodríguez, P. & Strong, M.T. (2012). Catalogue of seed plants of the West Indies. Smithsonian Contributions to Botany 98: 1-1192.
- Chang, C.S., Kim, H. & Chang, K.S. (2014). Provisional checklist of vascular plants for the Korea peninsula flora (KPF): 1-660. DESIGNPOST.
- Clayton, W.D., Harman, K.T. & Williamson, H. (2006). World Grass Species - Synonymy database The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
- Flora of North America Editorial Committee (2003). Flora of North America North of Mexico 25: 1-781. Oxford University Press, New York, Oxford.
- Goodwin, Z.A. & al. (2013). A checklist of the vascular plants of the lowland savannas of Belize, Central America. Phytotaxa 101: 1-119.
- Nelson Sutherland, C.H. (2008). Catálogo de las plantes vasculares de Honduras. Espermatofitas: 1-1576. SERNA/Guaymuras, Tegucigalpa, Honduras.
- Powell, A.M. & Worthington, R.D. (2018). Flowering plants of Trans-Pecos Texas and ajacent areas: 1-1444. BRIT Press.
Literature
Kew Backbone Distributions
- Acevedo-Rodríguez, P. & Strong, M.T. (2012). Catalogue of seed plants of the West Indies. Smithsonian Contributions to Botany 98: 1-1192.
- Chang, C.S., Kim, H. & Chang, K.S. (2014). Provisional checklist of vascular plants for the Korea peninsula flora (KPF): 1-660. DESIGNPOST.
- Dávila, P., Mejia-Saulés, M.T., Gómez-Sánchez, N., Valdés-Reyna, J., Ortíz, J.J., Morín, C., Castrejón, J. & Ocampo, A. (2006). Catálogo de las Gramíneas de México: 1-671. CONABIO, México city.
- Flora of North America Editorial Committee (2003). Flora of North America North of Mexico 25: 1-781. Oxford University Press, New York, Oxford.
- Forzza, R.C. & al. (2013). Lista de Espécies da Flora do Brasil http://floradobrasil.jbrj.gov.br/2010/.
- Gilli, C. & al. (2020). Floristische Neufunde (376-429). Neilreichia 11: 165-227.
- Goodwin, Z.A. & al. (2013). A checklist of the vascular plants of the lowland savannas of Belize, Central America. Phytotaxa 101: 1-119.
- Karthikeyan, S., Jain, S.K., Nayar, M.P. & Sanjappa, M. (1989). Florae Indicae Enumeratio: Monocotyledonae: 1-435. Botanical Survey of India, Calcutta.
- Nelson Sutherland, C.H. (2008). Catálogo de las plantes vasculares de Honduras. Espermatofitas: 1-1576. SERNA/Guaymuras, Tegucigalpa, Honduras.
-
GrassBase - The Online World Grass Flora
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0
-
Herbarium Catalogue Specimens
Digital Image © Board of Trustees, RBG Kew http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
-
Kew Backbone Distributions
The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Selected Plant Families 2022. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/
© Copyright 2017 World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0
-
Kew Living Collection Database
Common Names from Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew Living Collection https://www.kew.org/
-
Kew Names and Taxonomic Backbone
The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Selected Plant Families 2022. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/
© Copyright 2017 International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0
-
Kew Science Photographs
Copyright applied to individual images