Panicum

Description

The flowers are produced in a well-developed panicle often up to 60 cm in length with numerous seeds, which are 1 – long and 1 – broad. The fruits are developed from a two-flowered spikelet. Only the upper floret of each spikelet is fertile; the lower floret is sterile or staminate. Both glumes are present and well developed.

Taxonomy

Phylogenetic studies found the genus as previously circumscribed was polyphyletic, and several species have been reassigned to other genera. Most species in section Stolonifera of subgenus Phanopyrum were transferred to Ocellochloa, while P. venezuelae was placed in the new monotypic genus Drakkaria.

Well-known species include P. miliaceum (proso millet) and P. virgatum (switchgrass).

Selected species

• Panicum amarum – bitter panicum (North America)
• Panicum capillare – witchgrass, tumbleweed (North America)
• Panicum coloratum – kleingrass, coolah grass, Bambatsi panic (Africa)
• Panicum decompositum – native millet (Australia)
• Panicum dichotomiflorum – fall panicgrass (North America)
• Panicum effusum – hairy panic (Australia, New Guinea)
• Panicum fauriei – Faurie's panicgrass (endemic to Hawai'i)
• Panicum flexile – wiry panicgrass (eastern North America)
• Panicum hallii – Hall's panicgrass (North America)
• Panicum havardii – Havard's panicgrass (North America)
• Panicum hemitomon – maidencane (Americas)
• Panicum hillmanii – Hillmann's panicgrass (North America)
• Panicum hirticaule – Mexican panicgrass (Americas)
• Panicum lycopodioides – false club-moss panic grass (Réunion)
• Panicum miliaceum – proso millet, common millet (domesticated)
• Panicum niihauense – lau 'ehu (endemic to Hawai'i)
• Panicum queenslandicum
• Panicum repens – torpedo grass (widely introduced)
• Panicum rigidum (endemic to Socotra)
• Panicum simile – two colour panic (Australia)
• Panicum socotranum (endemic to Socotra)
• Panicum sumatrense – little millet (Asia)
• Panicum turgidum – afezu (Africa, Asia)
• Panicum urvilleanum – desert panicgrass (North America)
• Panicum virgatum – switchgrass (North America)

Formerly placed here

Species formerly classified in genus Panicum include:

• Acostia gracilis, as Panicum acostia
• Cnidochloa longipedicellata (Swallen) Zuloaga, as Panicum longipedicellatum Swallen
• Coleataenia abscissa , as Panicum abscissum
• Coleataenia anceps , as Panicum anceps
• Drakkaria venezuelae (Hack.) C.Silva & Zuloaga, as Panicum venezuelae Hack.
• Echinochloa colona, as Panicum colonum – jungle rice
• Echinochloa crus-galli, as Panicum crus-galli – barnyard grass
• Hopia obtusa , as Panicum obtusum – vine mesquite grass
• Janochloa antidotalis (Retz.) Zuloaga & Delfini, as Panicum antidotale – blue panicum
• Megathyrsus maximus (Jacq.) B.K.Simon & S.W.L.Jacobs, as Panicum maximum – Guinea grass or buffalo grass
• Stolonochloa pygmaea (R.Br.) E.J.Thomps., as Panicum pygmaeum – Australian native dwarf panicum or rainforest panicum
• Urochloa panicoides, as Panicum helopus – annual signal grass

Distribution

The genus is native throughout the tropical regions of the world, with a few species extending into the northern temperate zone. They are often large, annual or perennial grasses, growing to 1 – tall.

Australia has 29 native and 9 introduced species of Panicum.

Gallery

File:Panicum capillare NPS-1.jpg|P. capillare File:Panicum lycopiodoides detail 2.JPG|P. lycopodioides File:Panicum miliaceum0.jpg|P. miliaceum (Proso) File:Panicum phragmitoides MS 1830.JPG|P. phragmitoides File:Starr 050902-4349 Panicum repens.jpg|P. repens File:Starr 050315-5135 Panicum torridum.jpg|P. torridum File:Starr 020112-0032 Panicum xerophilum.jpg|P. xerophyllum File:Naturalis Biodiversity Center - L.1295307 - Panicum trichoides Sw. - Gramineae - Plant type specimen.jpeg|P. trichoides|alt=P. trichoides, isotype herbarium sheet

References

References

1. "''Panicum'' L.".
2. {{PLANTS
3. ''[[Flora of China]]'' [http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=2&taxon_id=123762 Vol. 22 Page 504 黍属 shu shu ''Panicum'' Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 1: 55. 1753. ]
4. [http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=5&taxon_id=123762 Flora of Pakistan]
5. [http://luirig.altervista.org/flora/taxa/floraspecie.php?genere=Panicum Altervista Flora Italiana, genere ''Panicum''] includes photos and distribution maps of several species
6. [http://bonap.net/NAPA/TaxonMaps/Genus/County/Panicum Biota of North America Program 2013 county distribution maps]
7. Valdés-Reyna, J., F. O. Zuloaga, O. Morrone & L. Aragón Melchor. 2009. [http://www.scielo.org.mx/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0366-21282009000100006 "El género ''Panicum'' (Poaceae: Panicoideae) en el noreste de México".] ''[[Boletín de la Sociedad Botánica de México]]'' 84: 59–82.
8. Morrone, O., A. M. Antón & F. O. Zuloaga. 1995. "''Axonopus''". ''[[Flora Fanerogámica Argentina]]''. 19(1): 11–16
9. Christian Silva, Júlia da Costa Hillmann, Juan Manuel Acosta, Reyjane Patrícia Oliveira, Fernando Omar Zuloaga, One more step into the resolution of ''Panicum'' (Poaceae) polyphyly: Drakkaria, a new segregate genus from neotropical Seasonally Dry Tropical Forests, ''Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society'', Volume 207, Issue 3, March 2025, Pages 208–224, https://doi.org/10.1093/botlinnean/boae044
10. (1896). "An illustrated flora of the northern United States, Canada and the British Possessions From Newfoundland to the Parallel of the Southern Boundary of Virginia, and from the Atlantic Ocean Westward to the 102d Meridian". [[Charles Scribner's Sons]].
11. [https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/9308504#page/169/mode/1up Freckmann, R. W. & M. G. Lelong. 2002. Nomenclatural changes and innovations in ''Panicum'' and ''Dichanthelium'' (Poaceae: Paniceae)]. ''[[Sida (journal). Sida]]'' 20(1): 161–174
12. Valdes, B. & H. Scholz. 2006. "The Euro+Med treatment of Gramineae - a generic synopsis and some new names". ''[[Willdenowia (journal). Willdenowia]]'' 36(2): 657–669
13. ''Grasses of the Tweed Valley of NSW: An introductory field guide to locally common grasses: native and introduced'', compiled by Penny Watsford, [[Nullum Publications]], 2004 {{ISBN. 0-9756823-0-X)
14. [http://ausgrass2.myspecies.info/content/panicum-0 Ausgrass2, Grasses of Australia]
15. "Atlas of Living Australia". [[Atlas of Living Australia]].