Fall panicum – Panicum dichotomiflorum - Plant & Pest Diagnostics

Fall panicum – Panicum dichotomiflorum

Panicum dichotomiflorum Michx.

Poaceae (Grass family)

MI Status

Native

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.

Ligule

Hairy.

Stems

Erect, bending in a zigzag manner at the nodes, up to 6 feet tall.

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.

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.
Witchgrass (P. capillare L.)
Differs by having dense, mostly perpendicular, soft hairs covering the entire plant.

Fall-panicum seedhead — Fall panicum seedhead

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Plant & Pest Diagnostics