GRAMINEAE (GRASS FAMILY) 29 
SPROUTING PANIC-GRASS 
Panicum dichotomiflorum, Michx. 
(Pénicum 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- 
tious, and nearly worthless as dry 
forage. (Fig. 7.) 
Means of control 
Fic. 7. — Sprouting Panic-grass 
(Panicum dichotomiflorum). X 4. 
Close cutting before seed development. 
