Panicum virgatum L. var. spissum Linder

Locations ofPanicum virgatum L. var. spissum Linder in Virginia

Show image with county labels

Detail

Family
Poaceae
Botanical Name
Panicum virgatum L. var. spissum Linder
Common Name
Tufted Switchgrass
Synonym(s)
Flora of Virginia Name/Status
Panicum virgatum L. var. spissum Linder
Comments
Study of the varieties of Panicum virgatum by Bruce Sorrie turned up Virginia specimens of this variety at the University of North Carolina Herbarium (NCU), published in J. Bot. Res. Inst. Texas 12(1):61-62 (2018). Densely cespitose plants occur on hummocks throughout Virginia's fresh and oligohaline tidal marshes and wind-tidal systems. These plants match the description of var. spissum in terms of habit and habitat but are under-collected. Existing herbarium specimens of P. virgatum, s.l. need to be examined with this taxon in mind, but those lacking root systems may be difficult to assign to variety. Distinguished by broader leaves, denser panicles, longer spikelets, and culms from a knotty crown or short rhizome rather than an elongate rhizome.
Habitat
Oligohaline tidal and wind-tidal marshes and upper borders of salt marshes. Vouchered along estuarine rivers of the c. and n. Coastal Plain. Plants with identical growth habit and hummock habitat occur regularly along the wind-tidal Northwest and North Landing Rivers in extreme southeastern Coastal Plain, but are unvouchered.
Native Status
Native

To save this map, right-click (control-click for Mac users) on the map and choose "Save Image As...".