Welcome to Catnapin's
Grass Gallery
Poaceae, Panicoideae, Paniceae - Witchgrass
(Family, Subfamily, Tribe)
Same Genus name as Panicgrass
Witchgrass Panicum capillare
Dry panicle can detach and act like a tumbleweed.
(Native of Texas - Taylor, Nolan, Fisher, Jones, Coleman, Brown)
Photos taken in Taylor County, Texas, July 2005, September 2007
see similar Fall Witchgrass (actually a crabgrass)
Base: annual, many branches, no rhizomes, no stolons (runner stem)
Blade (leaf): elongate, 25cm long, 8mm wide, near the base of the culm, floppy, can be hairy or not hairy
Sheath (leaf part encircling stem): Sheaths are light green to pale reddish, finely ribbed, very hairy.
Culm (main grain stem): reclined to upright, 30-90cm tall, multiple culms from base, rare branching, round, can be hairy or not hairy
Inflorescence: fan to airy oval shape, 30cm long, may not totally extend out of the sheath, main axis hairy, hairy nodes, wiry secondary branches are not hairy and terminate in a single spikelet.
Spikelet: 2.0-2.5mm long, hairless, beaked (point), green, one glum becomes purple, then panicle and spikelets turn tan
Copyright Notice: All photos are copyrighted and protected by the laws of the United States.
Unauthorized duplication for sale or distribution is prohibited.