Panicum capillare L., Poaceae

Click on an image for links to BIGGER PICTURES

Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Common name(s): [more details]

English: annual witchgrass, common panic grass, common witchgrass, old-witch grass, tickle grass, tumbleweed, witch's hair, witchgrass

French: panic capillaire

Spanish: borona, pasto de la perdiz, pelillo brujo, zacate encantado, zacate lisonjero

Habit:  grass

Description:  "Habit: Annual; caespitose. Culms erect, or geniculately ascending; 20-80 cm long. Culm-nodes bearded. Leaf-sheaths hispid; with tubercle-based hairs. Ligule a ciliate membrane. Leaf-blades linear, or lanceolate; 7-30 cm long; 5-14 mm wide. Leaf-blade apex attenuate. Inflorescence a panicle; deciduous as a whole. Panicle open; oblong, or ovate; effuse; 15-50 cm long. Panicle branches capillary. Spikelets solitary. Fertile spikelets pedicelled. Spikelets comprising 1 basal sterile florets; 1 fertile florets; without rhachilla extension. Spikelets elliptic, or oblong; dorsally compressed; acute, or acuminate; 1.8-2.5 mm long; falling entire; deciduous with accessory branch structures. Glumes reaching apex of florets; thinner than fertile lemma. Lower glume ovate; 0.33-0.5 times length of spikelet; membranous; without keels; 3 -veined. Lower glume apex obtuse to acuminate. Upper glume ovate; 1 times length of spikelet; membranous; without keels; 5-7 -veined. Upper glume apex acuminate. Florets: Basal sterile florets barren; with palea. Lemma of lower sterile floret similar to upper glume; ovate; 1 times length of spikelet; membranous; 5-7 -veined; acute. Palea of lower sterile floret 0.5 length of lemma. Fertile lemma elliptic; dorsally compressed; 1.5 mm long; indurate; pallid, or yellow; shiny; without keel. Lemma margins involute. Lemma apex acute. Palea involute; indurate. Flower: Anthers 3. Caryopsis with adherent pericarp"  (GrassBase).

Habitat/ecology:  (no habitat/ecology info known by PIER)

Propagation:  Seed

Native range:  Canada and the United States (GRIN).

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
New Caledonia New Caledonia Archipelago	Île Grande Terre	introduced invasive	MacKee, H. S. (1994) (p. 60) "Présent depuis longtemps; maintenant bien dispersé en savanes sur la Grande-Terre mais jamais commun" voucher cited: Vieillard 1473

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. 78)
Chile (continental) Chile	Chile (Republic of)		Hafliger, Ernst/Scholz, Hildemar (1980) (p. 78)
New Zealand New Zealand	New Zealand (country)	introduced invasive	Edgar, E./Connor, H. (2000) (p. 558) "Weed of pastures, orchards, gardens, roadsides and crops".
United States (west coast) United States (west coast states)	USA (Oregon)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
United States (west coast) United States (west coast states)	USA (California)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
United States (west coast) United States (west coast states)	USA (Washington)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)

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

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

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

References:

Clayton, W.D./Harman, K.T./Williamson, H. 2011. World Grass Species: Descriptions, Identification, and Information Retrieval [GrassBase - The Online World Grass Flora]. The Board of Trustees, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

Edgar, E./Connor, H. 2000. Flora of New Zealand, vol. V: Gramineae. Manaaki Whenua Press. .

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

MacKee, H. S. 1994. Catalogue des plantes introduites et cultivées en Nouvelle-Calédonie. Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, 164 p.

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.