Fall panicum – Panicum dichotomiflorum - Plant & Pest Diagnostics

The photo is a close-up of a fall panicum seedhead. It is an open and spreading panicle that is green in color.

Fall panicum – Panicum dichotomiflorum

Panicum dichotomiflorum Michx.

Poaceae (Grass family)

MI Status

Native

Life cycle

Erect summer annual.

Leaves

Leaves are hairless at maturity, up to 20 inches long with a prominent, white midvein. Leaf sheaths are also hairless at maturity, with no hairs on the sheath margins. Seedlings may have hairs on the lower leaf surface and sheath, becoming less hairy with age.

Ligule

Hairy.

Stems

Erect, bending in a zigzag manner at the nodes, up to 6 feet tall.

Flowers and fruit

The seedhead is a large, open, and spreading panicle that may be purple-tinted at maturity and yields small, straw-colored, oval seeds.

Reproduction

Seeds.

Similar weeds

Wild proso millet (P. miliaceum L.)
Differs by having long, mostly perpendicular, stiff hairs covering both leaf surfaces and the sheath, and a nodding panicle with large, shiny, olive-brown to black, oval-shaped seeds. Seeds often persist on the roots of seedlings.
Witchgrass (P. capillare L.)
Differs by having dense, mostly perpendicular, soft hairs covering the entire plant.

The photo is a close-up of the fall panicum ligule. It is short and hairy. — Fall panicum ligule

The photo is of the leaf of fall panicum. It shows the prominent midvein. — Fall panicum midvein

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Plant & Pest Diagnostics