Plants forming small clumps, with knotty rhizomes less
than 2 mm thick. Basal rosettes well-differentiated; sheaths pubescent;
blades ovate to lanceolate, dark green. Culms 45-110 cm, nearly
erect; nodes glabrous or the lower nodes slightly bearded; internodes glabrous
or sparsely pubescent; fall phase branching from the midculm nodes, branches
nearly erect, scarcely rebranching, blades and secondary panicles only slightly
reduced. Cauline leaves 4-6, often with a transitional leaf above the
basal rosette; sheaths not overlapping, glabrous or softly villous basally,
margins ciliate, collars pubescent; ligules 0.4-0.7 mm, membranous, ciliate,
cilia longer than the membranous portion; blades 3.7-7 times longer than
wide, 15-40 mm wide, ovate-lanceolate, glabrous or sparsely pubescent, with
11-13 major veins and 40-120 minor veins, bases cordate-clasping, with papillose-based
cilia. Primary panicles 7-15 cm long, 4-12 cm wide, 1.5-2 times as long
as wide, with 20-80 spikelets, eventually at least partially exserted; branches stiff,
ascending to spreading. Spikelets 2.9-3.9 mm long, 1.6-2 mm wide, ellipsoid,
sparsely pubescent. Lower glumes 1/3-1/2 as long as the spikelets, narrowly
triangular; upper glumes and lower lemmas slightly shorter than
the spikelets, often red-tinged basally and apically; lower florets staminate,
anthers exserted prior to those of the upper florets; upper florets pointed,
apiculate, upper lemmas with a minute fringe of hairs. 2n = 18, 36.
Dichanthelium latifolium grows in rich deciduous woods, often in slightly
open areas within eastern North America. The primary panicles are open-pollinated
and develop in May and June (and sometimes in September and October), the secondary
panicles, which are producedfrom July through September, are rarely open-pollinated.
Perennial herb with knotty rhizomes, forming small clumps 45 cm - 1 m tall Inflorescence: a terminal, branched arrangement of spikelets (panicle). Primary panicles atop the culms, 7 - 15 cm long, 4 - 12 cm wide, one and a half to two times as long as wide, becoming partially exserted, bearing twenty to eighty spikelets. Secondary panicles (when present) atop the branches. Fruit: a caryopsis, indehiscent, enclosed within the persistent lemma and palea. Culm: nearly upright, 45 cm - 1 m long, round in cross-section, hollow, sometimes sparsely hairy. Nodes sometimes slightly bearded on the lower nodes. Fall phase branching from mid-culm nodes, branches nearly upright, scarcely rebranching, producing only slightly reduced leaf blades and secondary panicles. Spikelets: 3 - 4 mm long, 1.5 - 2 mm wide, ellipsoid, sparsely hairy. Basal leaves: in a rosette. Sheaths hairy. Blades shortly egg-shaped to lance-shaped, distinct from stem blades. Stem leaves: four to six, alternate, two-ranked. Sheaths not overlapping, usually shorter than internodes, sometimes softly hairy basally, fringed with hairs. Ligules about 0.5 mm long, membranous, fringed with hairs (hairs longer than membranous area). Blades distinctly longer and narrower than basal leaves, four to seven times longer than wide, 1.5 - 4 cm wide, egg- lance-shaped with a clasping, heart-shaped base, many-veined, sometimes sparsely hairy, fringed with bumpy-based hairs. Glumes:: Lower glumes often reddish at the base and apex, one-third to one-half as long as spikelets, narrowly triangular. Upper glumes a bit shorter than spikelets, rounded to pointed at the apex. Lemmas:: Lower lemmas similar to upper glumes, often reddish at the base and apex, a bit shorter than spikelets. Upper lemmas longitudinally lined, shiny, with rolled-up margins above, fringed with minute hairs. Paleas:: Lower paleas shorter than lower lemmas, thin. Upper paleas longitudinally lined. Florets:: Lower florets male. Upper florets bisexual, stalkless, pointed, plump. Anthers three. Stigmas red.
Similar species: No information at this time.
Flowering: late May to mid-July
Habitat and ecology: Common in moderately moist woodlands.
Occurence in the Chicago region: native
Etymology: Dichanthelium comes from the Greek words di, meaning twice, and anth, meaning flowering, referring to plants that may have two flowering periods. Latifolium means broad-leaved.
Culms clustered, slender, erect, 4-10 dm, glabrous or rarely sparsely puberulent; sheaths ciliate-hairy at the top, otherwise glabrous to softly villous; blades lanceolate, spreading, glabrous or nearly so, ciliate at the cordate base, the larger ones 10-16 cm נ15-40 mm, the lateral veins differentiated into 2 types as in no. 39 [Panicum clandestinum L.]; primary panicle tardily exsert, ovoid with ascending branches, 6-12 cm; spikelets glabrous to softly villosulous, oblong-obovoid, 2.9-3.7 mm, first glume half as long, acute; second glume and sterile lemma shorter than the fr; autumnal phase sparsely branched from the middle nodes, the blades not much reduced or crowded, the panicles small, included at base; 2n=18. Woods and thickets; Que. and Me. to Minn., s. to N.C., Tenn., and Mo. (Dichanthelium l.)
Gleason, Henry A. & Cronquist, Arthur J. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. lxxv + 910 pp.