Fall panicum
August 26, 2015
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EmailPanicum dichotomiflorum Michx.
Life cycle
Erect summer annual.
Leaves
Leaves are hairless at maturity, up to 20 inches long with a prominent, white midvein. Leaf sheaths are also hairless at maturity, and there are no hairs on the sheath margin. Seedlings may have hairs on the lower leaf surface and sheath, becoming less hairy with age.
Prominent, white midvein of fall panicum.
Ligule
Hairy.
Stems
Erect, bending in a zigzag manner at the nodes, up to 6 feet tall.
Fall panicum collar region.
Flowers and fruit
The seedhead is a large, open and spreading panicle that may be purple-tinted at maturity and yields small, straw-colored, oval seeds.
Fall panicum seedhead.
Reproduction
Seeds.
Similar weeds
Wild proso millet (P. miliaceum L.) Differs by having long, mostly perpendicular, stiff hairs covering both leaf surfaces and sheath and a nodding panicle with large, shiny, olive-brown to black, oval-shaped seeds. Seeds often persist on the roots of seedlings.
Wild proso millet collar region.
Witchgrass (P. capillare L.) Differs by having dense, mostly perpendicular, soft hairs covering the entire plant.
Witchgrass collar region.
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