Present on Pacific Islands?  yes

Primarily a threat at high elevations?  no

Other Latin names:  Panicum boliviense Hack.

Common name(s): [more details]

English: Bolivian panicgrass

Habit:  grass

Description:  "Perennial; culms slender, widely decumbent-spreading, branching, the nodes pubescent, rooting at the lower nodes, the internodes usually rather short; sheaths shorter than the internodes, glabrous, the margins ciliate; ligule about 0.3 mm long, membranaceous, erose; blades rather thin, cordate, mostly 5-8 cm long, 5-10 mm (rarely 15 mm) wide, glabrous or sparsely pilose; panicles 6-15 cm long, the usually numerous branches ascending, the branchlets appressed or spreading, mostly on the lower side of the branches; spikelets 1.5 mm long, glabrous" (Swallen, 1955; p. 258).

Description from GrassBase.

Habitat/ecology:  In Guatemala, "moist river banks, lake shores, and openings in forests; sometimes a week in cultivated places" (Swallen, 1955; p. 258).

Propagation:  Seed

Native range:  Southern Mexico to Paraguay (Swallen, 1955; p. 258).

Presence:

Pacific
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) San Cristóbal Group	San Cristóbal Island	introduced invasive	Charles Darwin Foundation (2008) Collected in survey, herbarium record pending.
Ecuador (Galápagos Islands) Santa Cruz Group	Santa Cruz Island	introduced invasive	Charles Darwin Foundation (2008)

Pacific Rim
Country/Terr./St. & Island group	Location	Cited status & Cited as invasive & Cited as cultivated & Cited as aboriginal introduction?	Reference & Comments
Colombia Colombia	Colombia (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Costa Rica Costa Rica	Costa Rica (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Ecuador (Mainland) Ecuador	Ecuador (Republic of) (continental)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
El Salvador El Salvador	El Salvador (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Guatemala Guatemala	Guatemala (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Honduras Honduras	Honduras (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Mexico Mexico	Mexico (United Mexican States)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Nicaragua Nicaragua	Nicaragua (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Panama Panama	Panama (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)
Perú Perú	Perú (Republic of)	native	U.S. Dept. Agr., Agr. Res. Serv. (2011)

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

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

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

References:

Charles Darwin Foundation. 2008. Database inventory of introduced plant species in the rural and urban zones of Galapagos. Charles Darwin Foundation, Galapagos, Ecuador.

Charles Darwin Research Station. 2005. CDRS Herbarium records.

Swallen, Jason R./McClure, F. A. 1955. Flora of Guatemala. Grasses of Guatemala. Fieldiana: Botany. Vol. 24, Part II. Chicago Natural History Museum. 390 pp.

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