G91 



VINE-MESQUITE 



Pa'nicum obtu'sum 



Flower head (panicle) up to 5 in. long, 

 narrow, with a few erect, densely flow- 

 ered, racemelike branches; lower end 

 partly enclosed by upper leaf sheath 



Individual flower groups (spikelets) 

 2-flowe'red (1 flower perfect, the other, 

 male), usually in pairs on 1 side of 

 flower-head axis, short-stalked, hair- 

 less, blunt (obtuse) 



Lowest (2) spikelet bracts (glumes) 

 somewhat unequal, about as long as 

 spikelet; 1st glume 5-nerved, shorter 

 than 7- to 9-nerved 2d glume 



Outer flower bract of male flower 

 (sterile lemma) similar to 2d glume 



Outer flower bract of perfect flower 

 (fertile lemma) firm-papery, white, 

 somewhat blunt, nerves indistinct 



Leaves up to 8 in. long and about % 

 in. wide, firm, erect, inrolled and long- 

 narrow-pointed at tip, mostly hairless; 

 sheaths shorter than spaces between 

 stalk joints, hairless except for some of 

 lower ones 



Stalks (culms) flattened, leafy, wiry 

 hairless, somewhat bent (decumbent 

 at base, erect, up to 32 in. high, with 

 hairless joints . 



Boots fibrous, coarse, perennial 



Rootstocks underground, knotted, 

 short 



Creeping stems (stolons) up to 10 ft. 

 long, leafy, often rooting at the swollen, 

 woolly joints 



