Native & Naturalized Plants of the Carolinas & Georgia

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1016

Grass, Sedge, or Rush
Annual

Native to the Carolinas & Georgia

Documented growing wild in GA NC SC

Common in NC, uncommon in GA, uncommon in SC Piedmont, rare elsewhere

Look for it in open sandy or stony soil, fields, roadsides, waste places, often weedy in cultivated soil, per Weakley's Flora

map
To see a detailed map, click here

 

full sun

LEAVES:
Simple
Alternate, 2-ranked (plants lacking a rosette of overwintering basal leaves)

FLOWER:
Summer/Fall
Inflorescence a panicle

FRUIT:
Summer/Fall
Grain

 

TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!



Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Monocots: Commelinids: Poales

WEAKLEY'S FLORA (5/21/15):
 Panicum capillare   FAMILY Poaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
 Panicum capillare   FAMILY Poaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (1968) 029-81-010:
 Panicum capillare   FAMILY Poaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH Flora of North America
 Panicum capillare ssp. capillare

GREATER THAN Manual of the Grasses of the US (Hitchcock & Chase, 1950)
 Panicum capillare var. capillare

 

COMMON NAME:
 Witchgrass, Old-witch grass, Tumbleweed, Tickle Grass

Click or hover over the thumbnails to see larger pictures.

image of Panicum capillare, Witchgrass, Old-witch grass, Tumbleweed, Tickle Grass

JK Marlow    jkm0311g_35

November    Chester County    SC

Sumter National Forest: Tyger Ranger District

Panicles densely flowered, very diffuse, included at base until maturity, per Manual of the Grasses of the United States.

image of Panicum capillare, Witchgrass, Old-witch grass, Tumbleweed, Tickle Grass

JK Marlow    jkm0311h_03

November    Chester County    SC

Sumter National Forest: Tyger Ranger District

Blades 10-25cm long, 5-15mm wide, hispid on both surfaces; sheaths hispid, per Manual of the Grasses of the United States.