''Panicum hirticaule'' is a species of

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 lawns an ...

known by the common names Mexican panicgrass and roughstalked witchgrass. It is also known as the Sonoran millet, and is cultivated as a cereal crop in the

American Southwest The Southwestern United States, also known as the American Southwest or simply the Southwest, is a geographic and cultural region of the United States that generally includes Arizona, New Mexico, and adjacent portions of California, Colorado, N ...

Distribution

In North America it is native to the

Southwestern United States The Southwestern United States, also known as the American Southwest or simply the Southwest, is a geographic and cultural region of the United States that generally includes Arizona, New Mexico, and adjacent portions of California, Colorado, Ne ...

and

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

. Its distribution extends throughout Central and South America. It grows in many types of habitat, including disturbed areas. There is evidence that it was eaten, cultivated and possibly domesticated by Native Americans.

Description

This is an annual

bunchgrass Tussock grasses or bunch grasses are a group of grass species in the family Poaceae. They usually grow as singular plants in clumps, tufts, hummocks, or bunches, rather than forming a sod or lawn, in meadows, grasslands, and prairies. As perennial ...

growing 10 to 80 centimeters tall and bearing hairy leaves up to 15 centimeters long. The

inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed o ...

is a branching

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) be pedicellate (having a single stem per flower). The branches of a panicle are of ...

up to 12 centimeters long with rounded spikelets at nodes.

References

External links

Jepson Manual Treatment - ''Panicum hirticaule''USDA Plants Profile: ''Panicum hirticaule''Grass Manual Treatment - ''Panicum hirticaule''
hirticaule Bunchgrasses of North America Bunchgrasses of South America Flora of Central America Grasses of Mexico Grasses of the United States Native grasses of California Native grasses of Texas Flora of the Sonoran Deserts Flora of the Southwestern United States Natural history of the Colorado Desert Millets Cereals {{Panicoideae-stub