GRAMINEAE (GRASS FAMILY) 



29 



SPROUTING PANIC-GRASS 



Pdnicum dichotomifldrum, Michx. 

 (Pdnicum proliferum, Lam.) 



Other English names : Sprouting Crab-grass, Knee-grass, Spreading 

 Panicum. 



Native. Annual. Propagates by seeds. 



Time of bloom : July to September. 



Seed-time: Late August to No- 

 vember. 



Range : Maine to Nebraska, south- 

 ward to Florida and Texas. 



Habitat: Moist, rich soil; fields 

 and waste places. 



A large, coarse grass, the culms 

 stout, flattened, succulent, at first 

 erect, two to three feet high, later 

 becoming decumbent and genicu- 

 late, the stalks lengthening, some- 

 times to six feet, branching, and 

 sending up flowering stalks at all 

 the upper joints. Sheaths loose, 

 smooth, flattened, the ligule a ring 

 of hairs ; blades six to eighteen 

 inches long, a quarter-inch to an 

 inch wide, rough on the edges and 

 the central nerve. Panicles large, 

 spreading, six inches to more than 

 a foot in length, the spikelets 

 crowded, brown or purplish, the 

 seeds resembling those of Old 

 Witch but larger. Cattle and 

 horses are fond of the succulent, 

 sweetish stems when young, but it 

 soon becomes hard and innutri- 

 tions, and nearly worthless as dry 

 forage. (Fig. 7.) 



FIQ. 7. Sprouting Panic-grass 

 (Panicum dichotomiflorum) . X \. 



Means of control 

 Close cutting before seed development. 



