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).

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

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. 2009. Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) (on-line resource).

U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. 2009. 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).