GRASS FAMILY 



ii: 



3. Panicum capillare L. 



Old-Wilch Grass. Fig". 231. 



Panicum capillare L. Sp. PI. 5S. 1753. 



Annual, erect, 30-60 cm. tall ; foliage papillose- 

 hispid; blades 10-25 cm. long, 5-10 mm. wide; 

 panicle large and diffuse, often half the length of 

 the entire plant, included at the base until maturity, 

 the whole panicle finally breaking away and rolling 

 before the wind ; spikelets 2 mm. long, elliptic ; 

 first glume acute, half as long as spikelet, 5-7-nerved. 



Open ground, cultivated soil, and river banks, California 

 (Pine Grove, Hansen; Yreka, Butler). A common weed in 

 eastern United States. August. Type locality: Virginia. 



4. Panicum barbipulvinatum Nash. 

 Western Witch-grass. Fig. 232. 



Panicum capillare occidentale Rydb. Contr. U. S. Nat. 

 Herb. 3: 186. 1895. 



Panicum capillare hrcvifolium Vasev ; Rvdb. & Shear, 

 U. S. Dept. Agr. Div. Agrost. Bu'll. 5:' 21. 1897, not 

 P. brevifoUum L. 



Panicum barbipulvinatum Nash, in Rydb. Mem. N. Y. 

 Bot. Card. 1: 21. 1900. 



Similar in habit to P. capillare, usually stouter, 

 the blades shorter, less pubescent and more 

 crowded toward the base of the plant ; spikelets 

 2.5-3.5 mm. long, acuminate, larger on the aver- 

 age than in P. capillare. 



Open ground and cultivated fields, in the Transition 

 and Upper Sonoran Zones; common at moderate altitudes 

 throughout our area and eastward to the Great Plains. 

 Tuly-Oct. Type locality: Yellowstone Park. 



5. Panicum hirticaule Presl. 

 ]\Iexican Witch-grass. Fig. 233. 



Panicum hirticaule Presl, Rel. Hacnk. 1: 308. 1830. 



Annual, erect or nearly so, 15-60 cm. tall, more 

 or less papillose-hispid throughout, especially on the 

 sheaths ; blades 4-12 mm. wide, often sparsely hispid 

 toward the often cordate base; panicle 7-15 cin. long, 

 scarcely one-third the height of the entire plant, open, 

 the branches ascending; spikelets 3 mm. long, acumi- 

 nate, usually reddish brown. 



Open ground and sandy soil, Sonoran Zones; California 

 CTaniacha, Canby; Fort Yuma, Arizona, Parish), eastward to 

 Texas and south to northern South America. Julv-Oct. 

 Type locality: Acapuico, Mexico. 



