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Dichanthelium acuminatum (Sw.) Gould & Clark, also called tapered rosette grass, Western panicum, Western witchgrass, or Western panicgrass, is a perennial native plant of the Puget Prairie ecosystem in the Poaceae family. Other names: Panicum occidentale.

Taxonomy

  • Kingdom Plantae – Plants
  • Subkingdom Tracheobionta – Vascular plants
  • Superdivision Spermatophyta – Seed plants
  • Division Magnoliophyta – Flowering plants
  • Class Liliopsida – Monocotyledons
  • Subclass Commelinidae
  • Order Cyperales
  • Family Poaceae – Grass family
  • Genus Dichanthelium (Hitchc. & Chase) Gould – yarrow
  • Species Dichanthelium acuminatum (Sw.) Gould & C.A. Clark – tapered rosette grass

Description

Dichanthelium acuminatum is a species of grass from the genus Dichanthelium, in North America.

Tufted perennial; stems yellowish-green, leafy towards base, spreading, usually velvety-hairy, 15-40 cm tall. Leaves flat, firm, erect to ascending, hairy, 5-10 mm wide, no auricles; ligules 3-4 mm long, consisting of long hairs. Inflorescence a panicle, open, 3-9 cm long; spikelets up to 2 mm long, short-hairy, two flowered, the lower flower sterile; glumes unequal in size; fertile lemmas hardened (Pojar and MacKinnon, 1994)

Robert H. Mohlenbrock @ USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / USDA SCS. 1989. Midwest wetland flora: Field office illustrated guide to plant species. Midwest National Technical Center, Lincoln.

Bloom Period

June-September, Perennial

Distribution

Southern British Columbia south along the coast to California; east of the Cascades mainly along water courses or around springs in the mountains, east to Montana and Wyoming.

Habitat

Rocky or sandy river banks or lake margins to open woods, marshy areas or dry prairies, from sea level to high elevation in the mountains. Moist, sandy ground (lakeshores, beaches, stream banks), rocky and gravelly areas in bogs, meadows and open forests at low to mid elevations (Pojar and MacKinnon, 1994).

Uses

Landscaping: Panic grass is good for a low-traffic ground cover. Useful ground cover in controlled moist area. Attractive fall/winter color. Excellent in poorly-drained locations (S. Bastin, pers. comm.).

Propagation

Seed germinates readily with day temperatures of 20º C and night temperatures of 5-10º C Do not cover seeds; simply lightly press into the soil. Requires continuous moisture for germination. Good results will fall sowing - 90% germination by mid-April (S. Bastin, pers. comm.).

Conditioned seed is planted into round cell greenhouse flat liners with 38 cells per flat that have been filled with coarse processed bark and composted pine bark growing medium. Seed is surface sown at a rate of 3-5 seeds per cell and lightly covered with starter sized, 1/16" - 1/8" diameter, granite poultry grit to combat damping off diseases. Prepared flats are lightly hand watered to slightly moisten the growing medium.

Stratified seed is placed in a greenhouse maintained under natural lighting and at a minimum temperature of 70 degrees Fahrenheit. Soil moisture is maintained during germination by an automatic overhead watering system set to cycle for 20 seconds every thirty minutes during daylight hours. Germination typically occurs 7 - 10 days after placement in the greenhouse. After germination, seedlings are maintained in a greenhouse environment 2-4 months to promote development of a plug with at least 6 inches of top growth and a dense, fibrous root system suitable for mechanical transplanting. Watering is reduced to overhead hand watering once daily. Seedlings receive a water soluble complete fertilizer bi-weekly until hardening.

Hardening Phase 1 – 2 weeks.

(nativeplantnetwork.org)


Seed

Dichanthelium acuminatum

Abbreviation: DIAC

Seed sample from: 2011

Average Measurement: 1.6 x 1 x 0.8 Measurement Range: L: 1.5 x 1.9, W: no variation in sample set (all seeds measured 1 mm) D: 0.7 - 0.9

[1]

References

  1. USDA Plants Profile: Dichanthelium acuminatum
  • Stewart, Hilary. (1984). Cedar: tree of life to the Northwest Coast Indians. Vancouver: Douglas & McIntyre. ISBN 0-88894-437-3.
  • Van Pelt, R. (2001). Forest Giants of the Pacific Coast. University of Washington Press. ISBN 0-295-98140-7.


Dichanthelium acuminatum [1]

[2]


Image Gallery
  1. Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation Inc. [1]. Retrieved 04/12/2012.
  2. USDA, NRCS. 2012. The PLANTS Database (http://plants.usda.gov, 16 April 2012). National Plant Data Team, Greensboro, NC 27401-4901 USA. Retrieved 04/13/2012.