Panicum antidotale Retz., Poaceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Other Latin names:  Panicum miliare Lam.; Panicum proliferum Lam.

Common name(s): [more details]

English: blue panic, blue panic grass, blue panicum, giant panic grass, Texas grass

French: panic bleu

Spanish: Pánico azul

Habit:  grass

Description:  "Rhizomatous perennials 50-200 cm tall; culms often branched.  Ligule a ciliate membrane, 0.5-1 mm long; blades 10-50 cm long, 0.4-2 cm wide, flat, glabrous.  Panicles 10-45 cm long; spikelets 2.6-3.5 mm long, ovoid, acute, glabrous, the margins of the glumes and first lemma hyaline; first glume 1.4-1.9 mm long, 1/2 - 2/3 as long as spikelet, acute, 5-nerved, second glume 5-7-nerved; first palea as long as first lemma; second floret 2.3-2.8 mm long, acute, glossy, smooth; anthers 1.7-2 mm long"  (Wagner et al., 1999; p. 1567).

"Perennial, with culms 75-120 cm high; rootstock villous, hairy, stout, creeping, sending out hairy, extravaginal stolons; leaf blades 15-25 cm long, 3-6 mm broad, tapering to a fine point; spikelets crowded, often purple-tinged, glabrous, 2.5-3 mm long, the lower floret neuter"  (Smith, 1979; p. 346).

Description from GrassBase.

Habitat/ecology:  In Hawai‘i, "naturalized in dry, disturbed areas such as pastures and along roadsides, 0-825 m"  (Wagner et al., 1999; p. 1567).

Propagation:  Seed

Native range:  "Native from Iran to India, widely introduced in tropical areas as a forage plant"  (Wagner et al., 1999; p. 1567).

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (US) Northern Mariana Islands	Tinian Island	probably introduced	Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, Marie-Hélène/Oliver, Royce (1987) (p. 51) Listed as native; however, given its native range, more likely introduced.
Fiji Fiji Islands	Viti Levu Island	introduced invasive cultivated	Smith, Albert C. (1979) (p. 346) Vouchers cited: DA 8569, DA 11310, DA 10152, DA 8336, DA 8337 Introduced as a pasture grass and naturalized.
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Hawai‘i (Big) Island	introduced invasive	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 1567) Voucher cited: Ewart III 202 (BISH)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Maui Island	introduced invasive	Starr, Forest/Starr, Kim/Loope, Lloyd L. (2003) (p. 30) West Maui: voucher cited: Starr & Martz 001209-1; East Maui: voucher cited: Starr & Martz 020117-1 (BISH)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Maui Island	introduced invasive	Starr, Forest/Starr, Kim/Loope, Lloyd L. (2004) (p. 27) East Maui. Voucher cited: Starr & Martz 020201-1 (BISH)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	Moloka‘i Island	introduced invasive	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 1567)
State of Hawaii Hawaiian Islands	O‘ahu Island	introduced invasive	Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. (1999) (p. 1567)

Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Australia Australia (continental)	Australia (continental)		Hafliger, Ernst/Scholz, Hildemar (1980) (p. 75)

Additional information:
Additional online information about Panicum antidotale is available from the Hawaiian Ecosystems at Risk project (HEAR).

Information about Panicum antidotale as a weed (worldwide references) may be available from the Global Compendium of Weeds (GCW).

Taxonomic information about Panicum antidotale may be available from the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN).

References:

Fosberg, F. R./Sachet, Marie-Hélène/Oliver, Royce. 1987. A geographical checklist of the Micronesian monocotyledonae. Micronesica 20:1-126.

Hafliger, Ernst/Scholz, Hildemar. 1980. Grass weeds, vol. 1. CIBA-GEIGY Ltd., Basle, Switzerland. 142 pp. + plates.

Smith, Albert C. 1979. Flora Vitiensis nova: a new flora of Fiji. National Tropical Botanical Garden, Lawai, Kauai, Hawaii. Volume 1. 494 pp.

Starr, Forest/Starr, Kim/Loope, Lloyd L. 2003. New plant records from the Hawaiian Archipelago. In: Evenhuis, Neal L. and Eldredge, Lucius G., eds. Records of the Hawaii Biological Survey for 2001-2002. Part 2: Notes. Bishop Museum Occasional Papers. 74:23-34.

Starr, Forest/Starr, Kim/Loope, Lloyd L. 2004. New plant records from the Hawaiian Archipelago. In: Evenhuis, Neal L. and Eldredge, Lucius G., eds. Records of the Hawaii Biological Survey for 2003. Part 2: Notes. Bishop Museum Occasional Papers. 79:20-30.

U. S. Government. 2011. Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) (on-line resource).

U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. 2011. National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Online searchable database.

Wagner, Warren L./Herbst, Derral R./Sohmer, S. H. 1999. Manual of the flowering plants of Hawaii. Revised edition. Bernice P. Bishop Museum special publication. University of Hawai‘i Press/Bishop Museum Press, Honolulu. 1919 pp. (two volumes).