Panicum brevifolium L., Poaceae

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Present on Pacific Islands?  no

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Common name(s): [more details]

Chinese: duan ye shu

English: short-leaved panicum, shortleaf panic grass

Habit:  grass

Description:  "Creeping annual, rooting at the lower nodes; culms to 1 m or more long, the upper portions ascending and producing inflorescences, branched, the internodes much longer than the sheaths, slightly flattened, hollow, glabrous or with a line of pubescence, the nodes glabrous.  Sheaths rounded, glabrous, slightly auriculate, the auricle ciliate, one margin ciliate, the other hyaline, the collar glabrous; ligule a ciliolate membrane, puberulent on the back, 0.2-0.8 mm long; blades 1.5-8.0 cm long, 5-25 mm wide, ovate to ovate-lanceolate, flat, glabrous to sparsely pubescent, usually sparsely pilose behind the ligule, cordate-clasping at the base, acuminate, the basal lobes usually prominently ciliate.  Panicle 3-17 cm long, the branches spreading, the rhachis and major branches usually pilose, glandular, the pedicels glabrous, spreading.  Spikelets 1.5-1.9 mm long, 0.6-0.8 mm wide, somewhat laterally compressed, plano-convex and somewhat gibbous in lateral view, pubescent, varying from puberulent to conspicuously papillose-hirsute, often both forms in the same inflorescence with the heavily pubescent spikelets towards the outside of the panicle, rarely completely glabrous, green or flushed with purple, acute; lower glume as long as the spikelet or slightly shorter, narrow, lanceolate, acute to subobtuse, 1-3-nerved; rhacilla internode noticeably enlarged and thickened between the glumes; upper glume as long as the spikelet, strongly 5-nerved; lower floret usually staminate, sometimes sterile, the lemma 5-nerved, as long as the spikelet, the palea slightly shorter than the lemma; upper floret 1.0-1.5 mm long, 0.6-0.8 mm wide, ovate to broadly elliptic, minutely punctate, acute; anthers 1.0-1.4 mm long, yellow; caryopsis c. 0.8 mm long and 0.6 mm wide" (Dassanayake, 1994; pp. 333-334).

Description from GrassBase.

Habitat/ecology:  In Sri Lanka, "common in shade along forest edges, embankments, river banks, and in secondary vegetation at elevations from sea level to 1300 m" (Dassanayake, 1994; pp. 333-334).

Propagation:  Seed

Native range:  Tropical Africa and Asia (Dassanayake, 1994; pp. 333-334).

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Philippines Philippine Islands	Philippine Islands	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)

Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
China China	China (People's Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
China China	Hong Kong	native	Wu, Te-lin (2001) (p. 341) In wet places.
Indonesia Indonesia	Indonesia (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Malaysia Malaysia	Malaysia (country of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Taiwan Taiwan	Taiwan Island	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Thailand Thailand	Thailand (Kingdom of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)

Indian Ocean
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Seychelles Seychelles Islands	Frégate Island		Robertson, S. A./Todd, D. M. (1983) (p. 58) Voucher cited: Robertson 2640

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

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

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

References:

Dassanayake, M. D., gen. ed. 1994. A revised handbook to the flora of Ceylon. Vol VIII. Amerind Pub. Co., New Delhi. 458 pp.

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

Robertson, S. A./Todd, D. M. 1983. Vegetation of Frégate Island, Seychelles. In: Sachet, M. H., D. R. Stoddart, and F. R. Fosberg. Floristics and ecology of Western Indian Ocean islands. Atoll Research Bulletin No. 273. Smithsonian Institution, Washington. 253 pp.

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

Wu, Te-lin. 2001. Check List of Hong Kong Plants. Hong Kong Herbarium and the South China Institute of Botany. Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department Bulletin 1 (revised). 384 pp.

Zhengyi, Wu/Raven, Peter H./Deyuan, Hong. 2011. Flora of China (online resource).