. Common plants of longleaf pine-bluestem range. Plant ecology; Grasses; Forage plants. FRINGELEAF PASPALUM Paspalum ciliatifolium Michx. Fringeleaf paspalum is one of the smallest com- mon paspalums on longleaf pine-bluestem ranges. The slender flower stalks occasionally exceed 2 feet, but at this length they rarely stand erect. Leaves are mostly basal, often spreading along the ground. Light green blades, usually less than 8 inches long, are often twisted. The flower stalk ends in an inflorescence of one to three slender racemes, each 1V2 to 4 inches long. In addition, there are axillary inf
. Common plants of longleaf pine-bluestem range. Plant ecology; Grasses; Forage plants. FRINGELEAF PASPALUM Paspalum ciliatifolium Michx. Fringeleaf paspalum is one of the smallest com- mon paspalums on longleaf pine-bluestem ranges. The slender flower stalks occasionally exceed 2 feet, but at this length they rarely stand erect. Leaves are mostly basal, often spreading along the ground. Light green blades, usually less than 8 inches long, are often twisted. The flower stalk ends in an inflorescence of one to three slender racemes, each 1V2 to 4 inches long. In addition, there are axillary inflorescences, usually enclosed or half hidden in leaf sheaths. The grain is smooth, pale, and small—1/16 inch long, or less. Vegetatively, fringeleaf paspalum resembles crabgrass, Digitaria spp., and may inhabit the same site. Hairs on its leaf blades are marginal only whereas hairs of crabgrass blades, if present at all, grow from surfaces as well as margins. Through most of the growing season they can be distin- guished by floral characteristics. Crabgrass has only terminal racemes—generally three or more. Fringeleaf paspalum grows almost exclusively on heavily grazed, or otherwise disturbed, sandy sites. It is nowhere abundant and hence not an important forage producer, even though palatable. Range : Texas to Florida, north to Minnesota and New Jersey. Perennial. Culms 20-90 cm. tall, erect or spreading from a knotted base, lower parts brown or purplish; sheaths keeled, glabrous, or the lower ones puberulent, glabrous, or ciliate along the overlapping margins; ligule membranous, short, backed by a ligular beard 1-3 mm. long; blades ascending or spreading, 10-35 cm. long. 7-12 mm. or rarely 20 mm. wide, usually strongly ciliate to ciliate-papillose along the undulate margin, otherwise glabrous, flat, acuminate at the apex, rounded to subcordate at the base; inflorescence of one to three racemes, each 5-10 cm. long; spikelets 2 mm. long, suborbicular; first glume wanting; s
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Keywords: ., boo, bookcentury1900, booksubjectforageplants, booksubjectgrasses
