Panicum capillare L.
common witchgrass (witchgrass)
Poaceae (Grass family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
common witchgrass (witchgrass)
Poaceae (Grass family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
Species Information
General:
Annual grass from fibrous roots, usually branching from the base; stems decumbent-based to erect, 20-70 cm tall.
Leaves:
Sheaths open, copiously more or less pimpled and soft-hairy, the hairs 2-4 mm long; basal leaves similar to the stem leaves, the blades (3) 5-12 (15) mm wide; ligules 1.5-2 mm long.
Flowers:
Inflorescence a diffusely branched, spreading to drooping panicle, 10-30 cm long, often partially included in the uppermost sheath; spikelets 2-flowered, 2.5-3.5 mm long, the lower florets sterile, the upper ones always fertile; lower glumes 3-nerved, sharp-pointed, at least 1/2 as long as the spikelets, 1-3 mm long, the upper ones smooth, 7-nerved, sharp-pointed, about as long as the sterile lemmas, exceeding the fertile lemmas and paleas; sterile lemmas smooth, 9-nerved; fertile lemmas much-hardened, faintly-nerved; lodicules about 0.3 mm long, fan-shaped; anthers purple, about 1.2 mm long.
Illustration
If more than one illustration is available for a species (e.g., separate illustrations were provided for two subspecies) then links to the separate images will be provided below. Note that individual subspecies or varietal illustrations are not always available.
Illustration Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia
Ecology
Ecological Framework for Panicum capillare
The table below shows the species-specific information calculated from
original data (BEC database) provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and Range.
(Updated August, 2013)
The table below shows the species-specific information calculated from
original data (BEC database) provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and Range.
(Updated August, 2013)
| Site Information |
Value / Class |
||
|
Avg |
Min |
Max |
|
| Elevation
(metres) |
1051 | 449 | 2290 |
| Slope
Gradient (%) |
47 | 3 | 86 |
|
Aspect (degrees) |
196 | 138 | 335 |
| Soil
Moisture Regime (SMR) [0 - very xeric; 4 - mesic; 8 - hydric] |
2 | 0 | 5 |
| Modal
Nutrient Regime
Class |
A | ||
| #
of field plots species was recorded in: |
6 | ||
| Modal
BEC Zone Class |
IDF | ||
|
All BEC Zones (# of stations/zone) species was recorded in |
ICH(1), IDF(2), PP(1) | ||
|
Source:
Klinkenberg 2013
|
|||
Habitat and Range
Moist to dry roadsides, railway embankments, gravelly slopes and fields in the lowland, steppe and montane zones; frequent in S BC, rare northward to 56 degrees N; E to PQ and NS and S to ME, MA, PA, NC, FL, MS, LA, TX, NM, AZ and CA.Status Information
Synonyms
Synonyms and Alternate Names:
Panicum barbipulvinatum Nash
Panicum capillare subsp. barbipulvinatum (Nash) Tzvelev
Panicum capillare var. agreste Gattinger
Panicum capillare var. barbipulvinatum (Nash) R.L. McGregor
Panicum capillare var. brevifolium Vasey ex Rydb. & Shear
Panicum capillare var. campestre Gattinger
Panicum capillare var. capillare
Panicum capillare var. occidentale Rydb.
Panicum philadelphicum subsp. gattingeri (Nash) Freckmann & Lelong