''Dichanthelium scoparium'' is a species of
grass
Poaceae ( ), also called Gramineae ( ), is a large and nearly ubiquitous family (biology), family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos, the grasses of natural grassland and spe ...
known by the common names velvet panicum, velvety panicgrass, and broom panicgrass. It is native to North America, where it occurs in the southeastern United States. It also occurs in the
West Indies
The West Indies is an island subregion of the Americas, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, which comprises 13 independent island country, island countries and 19 dependent territory, dependencies in thr ...
.
[''Dichanthelium scoparium''.]
Grass Manual Treatment.
This
rhizomatous
In botany and dendrology, a rhizome ( ) is a modified subterranean plant stem that sends out roots and shoots from its nodes. Rhizomes are also called creeping rootstalks or just rootstalks. Rhizomes develop from axillary buds and grow hori ...
perennial grass produces a basal rosette of leaves in the fall and winter and then erect stems the following spring.
[''Dichanthelium scoparium''.]
USDA NRCS Plant Fact Sheet. There are clumps of stems up to 1.5 meters tall. There are 7 to 11 hairy leaves up to 20 centimeters long by 2 wide on the stem. There are two types of
inflorescence
In botany, an inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a plant's Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a system of branches. An inflorescence is categorized on the basis of the arrangement of flowers on a mai ...
. The main
panicle
In botany, a panicle is a much-branched inflorescence. (softcover ). Some authors distinguish it from a compound spike inflorescence, by requiring that the flowers (and fruit) be pedicellate (having a single stem per flower). The branches of a p ...
has flowers that open and are
pollinated
Pollination is the transfer of pollen from an anther of a plant to the stigma of a plant, later enabling fertilisation and the production of seeds. Pollinating agents can be animals such as insects, for example bees, beetles or butterflies; bird ...
. There are also
cleistogamous
Cleistogamy is a type of automatic self-pollination of certain plants that can propagate by using non-opening, self-pollinating flowers. Especially well known in peanuts, peas, and pansies, this behavior is most widespread in the grass family. H ...
flowers that do not open and fertilize themselves. These develop later in the season.
[ There are about 380,000 seeds per pound.][
This grass grows in woodlands and ]savanna
A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) biome and ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach th ...
s.[ It may inhabit disturbed habitat.][
]
References
External links
USDA Plants ProfileNatureServe
{{Taxonbar, from=Q5272449
scoparium
Grasses of North America