MANUAL OF THE GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES 



swampy ground, Virginia to Florida 

 and Texas; infrequent. 



16. Commutata. — Culms relatively 



stout, glabrous or puberulent; 



ligules obsolete or nearly so; 



blades cordate and more or less 



ciliate at base; spikelets elliptic, 



not very turgid, 7- to 9-nerved, 



pubescent. Autumnal culms usu- 

 ally rather sparingly branching. 

 108. Panicum ashei Pearson. (Fig. 

 1017.) Vernal phase usually purplish, 

 from a knotted crown; culms 25 to 50 

 cm. tall, erect, stiff and wiry, densely 

 crisp-puberulent; sheaths less densely 

 puberulent; blades rather thick and 

 firm, 4 to 8 cm. long, 5 to 10 mm. 

 wide, glabrous; panicle 5 to 8 cm. 

 long, loosely flowered; spikelets 2.4 to 

 2.7 mm. long. Autumnal culms erect 

 or topheavy-reclining, bearing diver- 

 gent branches from the middle and 

 upper nodes or from the upper nodes 

 only. % — Dry, especially rocky 



677 



Figure 1017. — Panicum ashei. Two views of spikelet, 

 and floret, X 10. (Type coll.) 



woods, Massachusetts to Michigan 

 and Missouri, south to northern Flor- 

 ida, Mississippi, Arkansas, and Okla- 

 homa. 



109. Panicum commutatum Schult. 

 (Fig. 1018.) Vernal culms 40 to 75 

 cm. tall, erect; sheaths glabrous or 

 nearly so; blades 5 to 12 cm. long, 12 

 to 25 mm. wide, glabrous on both 

 surfaces or puberulent beneath; pan- 



Figure 1018. — Panicum commutatum. Plant, X 1; two views of spikelet, and floret, X 10. (Bock and Chase 



118, 111.) 



