Kansas Wildflowers and Grasses - Scribner dichanthelium

SCRIBNER DICHANTHELIUM

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Dichanthelium oligosanthes (J.A. Schultes ) Gould var. scribnerianum (Nash ) Gould

[=Panicum oligosanthes J.A. Schultes var. scribnerianum (Nash ) Fernald]

Riley County, Kansas

Perennial

Height: 6-24 inches

Family: Poaceae - Grass Family

Flowering Period: May, June

Also Called:

Scribner's panicum.

Culms:

Erect or ascending; simple initially, later usually branched above, often bent abruptly at bases, glabrous, rough or soft-hairy.

Blades:

Ascending or erect, lanceolate, 2-4 inches long, to 1/2 inch wide, firm, rounded at bases, rough and sparingly hairy or glabrous below, glabrous above; tips pointed.

Sheaths:

Longer than internodes, loose, distinctly ribbed, stiff-hairy or glabrous.

Ligules:

Short fringes of hairs.

Inflorescences:

Panicles, pyramidal, 1.5 to 3.5 inches long; branches ascending or spreading, .75 to 1.5 inch long, wavy.

Spikelets:

Egg-shaped, less than 1/6 inch long, blunt, swollen, strongly nerved, sparsely pubescent or nearly glabrous, borne at ends of branches; awns absent.

Habitat:

Open prairies, meadows, disturbed ground, and occasionally in woods, more common on sandy soils.

Distribution:

East 3/4 of Kansas.

Forage Value:

It can be grazed in fall, winter, and spring. It is palatable and nutritious to livestock but does not furnish large amounts of forage.

Comments:

Tufted. Scribner dichanthelium begins growth in the early fall and remains green throughout the winter. It was named for Frank L. Scribner, (1851-1938), a grass specialist in the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Scribner dichanthelium inflorescence