''Panicum'' (panicgrass) is a large genus of about 250 species of

grasses Poaceae ( ), also called Gramineae ( ), is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos, the grasses of natural grassland and species cultivated in ...

native throughout the tropical regions of the world, with a few species extending into the northern temperate zone. They are often large,

annual Annual may refer to: *Annual publication, periodical publications appearing regularly once per year **Yearbook **Literary annual *Annual plant *Annual report *Annual giving *Annual, Morocco, a settlement in northeastern Morocco *Annuals (band), a ...

perennial In horticulture, the term perennial ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the year") is used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. It has thus been defined as a plant that lives more than 2 years. The term is also ...

grasses, growing to tall. The flowers are produced in a well-developed

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 ...

often up to in length with numerous seeds, which are long and broad. The fruits are developed from a two-flowered

spikelet A spikelet, in botany, describes the typical arrangement of the inflorescences of grasses, sedges and some other monocots. Each spikelet has one or more florets. The spikelets are further grouped into panicles or spikes. The part of the sp ...

. Only the upper floret of each spikelet is fertile; the lower floret is sterile or staminate. Both

glume In botany, a glume is a bract (leaf-like structure) below a spikelet in the inflorescence (flower cluster) of grass Poaceae ( ), also called Gramineae ( ), is a large and nearly ubiquitous family (biology), family of monocotyledonous flow ...

s are present and well developed. Australia has 29 native and 9 introduced species of ''Panicum''. Well-known species include '' P. miliaceum'' (proso millet) and '' P. virgatum'' (switchgrass).

Phylogenetic In biology, phylogenetics () is the study of the evolutionary history of life using observable characteristics of organisms (or genes), which is known as phylogenetic inference. It infers the relationship among organisms based on empirical dat ...

studies found the genus as previously circumscribed was

polyphyletic A polyphyletic group is an assemblage that includes organisms with mixed evolutionary origin but does not include their most recent common ancestor. The term is often applied to groups that share similar features known as Homoplasy, homoplasies ...

, and several species have been reassigned to other genera. Most species in section ''Stolonifera'' of subgenus ''Phanopyrum'' were transferred to '' Ocellochloa'', while ''P. venezuelae'' was placed in the new monotypic genus ''

Drakkaria ''Drakkaria'' is a genus of grasses. It includes a single species, ''Drakkaria venezuelae'', a perennial native to the tropical Americas. It has a disjunct distribution in Guatemala, Honduras, northwestern Costa Rica, Cuba, Hispaniola, Venezuela, ...

''.Christian Silva, Júlia da Costa Hillmann, Juan Manuel Acosta, Reyjane Patrícia Oliveira, Fernando Omar Zuloaga, One more step into the resolution of ''Panicum'' (Poaceae) polyphyly: Drakkaria, a new segregate genus from neotropical Seasonally Dry Tropical Forests, ''Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society'', Volume 207, Issue 3, March 2025, Pages 208–224, https://doi.org/10.1093/botlinnean/boae044

Selected species

Formerly placed here

Species formerly classified in genus ''Panicum'' include:

Gallery

File:Panicum capillare NPS-1.jpg, '' P. capillare'' File:Panicum lycopiodoides detail 2.JPG, '' P. lycopodioides'' File:Panicum miliaceum0.jpg, ''P. miliaceum'' ( Proso) File:Panicum phragmitoides MS 1830.JPG, '' P. phragmitoides'' File:Starr 050902-4349 Panicum repens.jpg, '' P. repens'' File:Starr 050315-5135 Panicum torridum.jpg, '' P. torridum'' File:Starr 020112-0032 Panicum xerophilum.jpg, '' P. xerophyllum'' File:Naturalis Biodiversity Center - L.1295307 - Panicum trichoides Sw. - Gramineae - Plant type specimen.jpeg, '' P. trichoides'', alt='' P. trichoides'', isotype herbarium sheet

References

External links

Interactive Key to ''Panicum'' of North America
{{Authority control Poaceae genera Taxa described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus