''Panicum'' (panicgrass) is a large genus of about 450 species of

grasses Poaceae () or Gramineae () is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos and the grasses of natural grassland and species cultivated in lawns a ...

native throughout the tropical regions of the world, with a few species extending into the northern temperate zone. They are often large, annual or

perennial A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wide ...

grass Poaceae () or Gramineae () is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos and the grasses of natural grassland and species cultivated in law ...

es, growing to tall. The flowers are produced in a well-developed

panicle A panicle is a much-branched inflorescence. (softcover ). Some authors distinguish it from a compound spike inflorescence, by requiring that the flowers (and fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is ...

often up to in length with numerous seeds, which are long and broad. The fruits are developed from a two-flowered spikelet. Only the upper floret of each spikelet is fertile; the lower floret is sterile or staminate. Both

glume In botany, a glume is a bract (leaf-like structure) below a spikelet in the inflorescence (flower cluster) of grasses (Poaceae) or the flowers of sedges (Cyperaceae). There are two other types of bracts in the spikelets of grasses: the lemma ...

s are present and well developed. Australia has 29 native and 9 introduced species of ''Panicum''. Well-known ''Panicum'' species include '' Panicum miliaceum'' (proso millet) and ''

Panicum virgatum ''Panicum virgatum'', commonly known as switchgrass, is a perennial warm season bunchgrass native to North America, where it occurs naturally from 55°N latitude in Canada southwards into the United States and Mexico. Switchgrass is one of the ...

'' (switchgrass).

Selected species

Formerly classified in this genus, according to The Plant List:

Gallery

File:Starr 020201-9001 Panicum antidotale.jpg, '' Panicum antidotale'' File:Panicum capillare NPS-1.jpg, ''

Panicum capillare ''Panicum capillare'', known by the common name witchgrass, is a species of grass. It is native plant to most of North America from the East Coast through all of the West Coast and California. It can be found as an introduced species in Eurasia ...

'' File:Panicum lycopiodoides detail 2.JPG, ''

Panicum lycopodioides ''Panicum lycopodioides,'' common name false club-moss panic grass or (in French) panic faux-lycopode, is endemic to the French island of Réunion Réunion (; french: La Réunion, ; previously ''Île Bourbon''; rcf, label= Reunionese Creol ...

'' File:Starr 040423-0027 Panicum maximum.jpg, ''

Panicum maximum ''Megathyrsus maximus'', known as Guinea grass and green panic grass, is a large perennial bunch grass that is native to Africa and Yemen. It has been introduced in the tropics around the world. It has previously been called ''Urochloa maxim ...

'' File:Panicum miliaceum0.jpg, Proso millet File:Panicum phragmitoides MS 1830.JPG, ''

Panicum phragmitoides ''Panicum'' (panicgrass) is a large genus of about 450 species of grasses native throughout the tropical regions of the world, with a few species extending into the northern temperate zone. They are often large, annual or perennial grasses, g ...

'' File:Starr 050902-4349 Panicum repens.jpg, ''

Panicum repens ''Panicum repens'' is a species of grass known by many common names, including torpedograss, creeping panic, panic rampant, couch panicum, wainaku grass, quack grass, dog-tooth grass, and bullet grass. Its exact native range is obscure. Sources ...

'' File:Starr 050315-5135 Panicum torridum.jpg, '' Panicum torridum'' File:Starr 020112-0032 Panicum xerophilum.jpg, '' Panicum xerophyllum'' File:Naturalis Biodiversity Center - L.1295307 - Panicum trichoides Sw. - Gramineae - Plant type specimen.jpeg, '' Panicum trichoides'', isotype herbarium sheet

References

External links

Interactive Key to ''Panicum'' of North America
{{Authority control Poaceae genera Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus