Panicum capillare
Common names
witchgrass
Biostatus
Exotic
Category
Vascular
Structural class
Grasses
Simplified description
Annual with fibrous roots, reproducing by seeds. Stems 25–75 cm tall, often spreading and branched. Leaves and especially the leaf sheaths covered with dense soft hairs. Panicle much branched, becoming spreading and open at maturity, often breaking from stem and blown about by wind. (Wax, Fawcett and Isely 1981)
Conservation status
Not applicable
Detailed taxonomy
Family
Poaceae
Ecology
Year naturalised
1916
Origin
North America
Life cycle and dispersal
Seeds 1.5 mm long, greenish or greyish, shiny, smooth, readily separated from hulls when ripe. (Wax, Fawcett and Isely 1981). Dispesed by wind.
Other information
NVS code
The National Vegetation Survey (NVS) Databank is a physical archive and electronic databank containing records of over 94,000 vegetation survey plots - including data from over 19,000 permanent plots. NVS maintains a standard set of species code abbreviations that correspond to standard scientific plant names from the Ngä Tipu o Aotearoa - New Zealand Plants database.
PANCAP
Referencing and citations
References and further reading
Wax LM, Fawcett RS, Isley D, eds. 1981. Weeds of the North Central States. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign College of Agriculture, Illinois, USA. 303 p.