330 
P A N I 
PANICO'LO, a town of Naples, in Lavora : twenty- 
two miles north-weft of Naples. 
PANIC'ULATE, or Paniculated, adj. [from pani- 
cula.~\ Having flowers on long footitalks iffuing on all 
Aides from the middle ftalk, and growing narrower to¬ 
wards the top. 
PAN'ICUM, f. [an old Latin name for the moft cele¬ 
brated fpecies, P. italicum, and which Faber and Ambro- 
finus, after Pliny, declare to allude to its panicle of feed. 
Certainly the inflorefcence of that grafs, or corn, though 
now termed a fpike, anfwers peculiarly well to the clafllcal 
idea of a panicle. (See Panicle.) Other etymologifts 
deduce the word from panis, bread; for which, however, 
it feems to have ferved lefs than many other forts of 
grain.] Panic-grass, including Millet ; in botany, a 
genus of the clafs triandria, order digynia, natural order 
of gramina, orgrafles. Generic charafters—Calyx: glume 
two-flowered, two-valved: valves fubovate, nerved: the 
outer valve a little lower, very fmall; one floret herma¬ 
phrodite, the other neuter or male. Corolla of the her¬ 
maphrodite; glume two-valved ; the outer valve (in the 
bofom of the fmaller calycine valve) flat.tifli, nerved ; the 
inner membranaceous, flat, with the edges bent in ; often 
fmall or very fmall. Neftary two-leaved, very fmall, gib¬ 
bous; in the neuter florets, none. Stamina: filaments 
three, capillary ; anthers oblong ; the neuter florets have 
no ftamens. Piftiilum: in the hermaphrodites; germ 
roundilh ; ftyles two, capillary ; ftigmas feathered ; in the 
neuters, none. Pericarpium: none; the corolla adheres 
to the feeds without opening. Seed one, covered, round- 
ifn, flattiih on one fide. Neglefting the inner valve of the 
neuter floret, the outer feems to belong to the calyx ; 
hence three calycine valves are commonly reckoned by 
botanifts, among which the third is very fmall.— Effential 
Chctradler. Calyx two-valved, the third valve very fmall. 
Panicum confifts of thirty-four fpecies only in Linn. 
Syft. Veg. ed. 14. Willdenow has eighty, having profited 
much by the labours of Retzius and Swartz; the former 
of whom has defcribed many new fpecies from the Eaft, 
and the latter a confiderable number from the Weft In¬ 
dies. The new edition of Ait. Hort. Kew contains twenty- 
five fpecies, all among thofe or Willdenow : five of them 
are natives of England. Only one new fpecies, P. eruci- 
forrne, is defined in Smith’s Prodr. FI. Graec. Sibth. The 
whole are diftributed by Linnaeus, and confequently by 
Willdenow, into two feftions, Flowers (piked, and Flowers 
panicled. The author laft named has forty fpecies in each 
fe£tion. Mr. Brown, however, who has defined thirty- 
two new fpecies of Panicum, even as he limits the genus, 
from New Holland alone, has divided it, upon new prin¬ 
ciples,into feven feflions. Ofthefe, for want of knowing 
his new fpecies, we can form no conciufive judgment; 
and we (hall therefore content ourfelves with the old 
arrangement. 
I. Flowers fpiked. 
1. Panicum polyftachion, or many-fpiked panic-grafs: 
fpikes round, involucrets one-flowered, in bundles and 
briftly; culms erect, branched at top. In the fpikes this 
refsmbles P. glaucum, but they are only half the fize, and 
the piftils are blood-red. Culm rooting at bottom, from 
one to fix feet in height, very much branched. Leaves 
hairy, at top almoft oppofite. Involucrets almoft fix times 
as long as their flowers, purple, with ciliate briftles from 
the bale to the middle with longifh hairs. Native of the 
Eaft Indies. Biennial. Lourejro, however, defcribes the 
culm as annual, only two feet high, upright, (lender, 
round, jointed. Native of Cochinchina. 
2. Panicum fericeum, or filky panic-grafs : fpike round, 
involucres briftle-fhaped villofe one-flowered the length 
of the flowers; leaves flat. This is an annual grafs, na¬ 
tive of the Weft Indies. It was introduced in 1780, by 
John earl of Bute ; it flowers from June to September. 
3. Panicum verticillatum, or rough panic-grafs: fpike 
C U M. 
whorled, racemelets in fours, involucrets one-flowered, 
two-brililed, culms diffufed. This in its general habit 
agrees exaftly with P. viride; but, in the fize and "form of 
the fpike, and the parts compofing it, differs very ma¬ 
terially : the whole plant is generally one-third larger; 
the fpike alfo is larger, and much lefs compa£I; it is 
evidently compofed of little branches, which grow fome- 
what in whorls, whence its name : the briftles of the fpike 
are confiderably (horter than thofe of the viride, and dif¬ 
fer from them particularly in being hooked, fo that the 
fpikes readily adhere to any thing; and, where feveral of 
them grow near each other, they are very apt, from this 
caufe, to become entangled. According to Linnaeus, the 
fpike is compofed of longer racemes than in P. viride, 
three or four in number, direfted one way downwards. 
Flowers green, with purple piftils. Briftles one or two, 
rugged, to each flower, and longer than that. Pedicels 
on the falling of the flowers terminated by a truncate, 
concave, white cup. Culms even, two feet high; fpike 
from two inches and a half to four inches in length, and 
near half an inch broad. Native of Europe, the Levant, 
and Japan. In England, Mr. Ray defcribes it as having 
been found between Putney and Roehampton, and be¬ 
yond the Neat-houfes by the Thames fide. Mr. Curtis 
found it fparingly in the gardener’s-ground in Batterfea- 
fields, with the viride, and flowering at the fame time 
Scheucbzer remarks, that it is a troublefome weed in the 
gardens near Paris. Thunberg defcribes two varieties, 
a larger and a fmaller ; the latter Teeming to be diftinft. 
4. Panicum. lielvolum, or pale-red panic-grafs: fpike 
round, involucrets one-flowered, in bundles and briftly ; 
feeds nerved. This Is an annual grafs, bearing a great 
refemblance to P. glaucum, but in reality different. Culm 
fix feet high, branched ; barren branches (horter. Leaves 
towards the bafe above with white hairs near an inch in 
length, and fpreading. Spike Ample, a fpan long. In¬ 
volucrets pale-red, one-flowered, many-briftled, longer 
than the flower. Glume, with longitudinal ftreaks, (but 
no tranfverfe waved ones,) green, diftindt. Native of the 
Eaft Indies. 
5. Panicum glaucum, or glaucous panic-grafs : fpike 
round, involucrets two-flowered in bundles and hairy, 
feeds waved and wrinkled. Root fibrous, annual. Culms 
a foot high, ereft, leafy, having four knots, grooved at 
the top, even. Leaves broadifti, flat, even, the upper one 
often longer than the fpike. Spike as in the next ipecies: 
the florets diipofed in rows, three times as large, fub- 
feflile, folitary and in pairs, accompanied by briftles, 
finally becoming yellow, (horter than in P. viride. Native 
of the Eaft Indies, America, and feveral parts of Europe, 
as Italy, the fouth of France, Germany, Swifferland. It 
flowers in June and July. Introduced in 1771, by Monf. 
Richard. 
6. Panicum viride, or green panic-grafs: fpike round, 
involucrets two-flowered in bundles and hairy, fe'eds 
nerved. This is diftindl enough from the preceding in 
having fmooth feeds, not tranl'verfely waved and wrin¬ 
kled. The glumes are nerved, as in the preceding. 
Scopoli fays, that the third glume is not always prefenc; 
Leers, that it is always wanting. 
Mr. Curtis remarks, that this fpecies, to correfpond 
with its trivial name, fhould be always green ; but that its 
foliage is often red, and its fpikes reddifh-brown; and 
that the verticillatum is the contrary ; but the fpike will 
always diftinguifli them. The hairs in the fpike of the 
viride are much longer than thofe of the verticillatum ; 
and, though the microfcope difcovers them to be prickly, 
yet, being upright, they (how no manifeft roughnefs. 
Leers thus defcribes it. Root annual. Culms from a 
foot to eighteen inches in height, oblique, leafy, having 
three knots, ftreaked at top, rugged. Spike ovate-cylin¬ 
drical, unequal in .thicknefs, green, frequently tinged 
with violet on one fide. The third petal of the corolla 
is found in the preceding, in crus galli and miliaceum, but 
not 
