OF THE CAROLINAS & GEORGIA

Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Monocots: Commelinids: Poales

WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/14/23):
Panicum virgatum var. virgatum   FAMILY Poaceae   Go to FSUS key



INCLUDED WITHIN PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Panicum virgatum var. virgatum   FAMILY Poaceae

INCLUDED WITHIN Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)

Panicum virgatum var. virgatum

INCLUDED WITHIN Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 25 (2003)

Panicum virgatum

INCLUDED WITHIN Floristic Synthesis of North America (Kartesz, 1999)

Panicum virgatum var. virgatum

INCLUDED WITHIN VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 029-81-006:

Panicum virgatum   FAMILY Poaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Grasses of the US (Hitchcock & Chase, 1950)

Panicum virgatum var. virgatum

SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)

Panicum virgatum var. virgatum

 

COMMON NAME:
Switchgrass, Prairie Switchgrass


         To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.

image of Panicum virgatum var. virgatum, Switchgrass, Prairie Switchgrass

JK Marlow    jkm070310_009

March    Transylvania County    NC

DuPont State Forest

image of Panicum virgatum var. virgatum, Switchgrass, Prairie Switchgrass

JK Marlow    jkm060429_150

April    Clay County    NC

Nantahala National Forest: Tusquitee Ranger District

image of Panicum virgatum var. virgatum, Switchgrass, Prairie Switchgrass

JK Marlow    jkm0505q_10

May    Williamsburg County    SC

Leaves 20-60cm long and 8-15mm wide, per Forest Plants of the Southeast and Their Wildlife Uses (Miller & Miller, 2005).

image of Panicum virgatum var. virgatum, Switchgrass, Prairie Switchgrass

JK Marlow    jkm0509b_32

September    Transylvania County    NC

DuPont State Forest

image of Panicum virgatum var. virgatum, Switchgrass, Prairie Switchgrass

JK Marlow    jkm200926_7449

September    Transylvania County    NC

DuPont State Forest

image of Panicum virgatum var. virgatum, Switchgrass, Prairie Switchgrass

JK Marlow    jkm220909_9818

September    Transylvania County    NC

DuPont State Forest

image of Panicum virgatum var. virgatum, Switchgrass, Prairie Switchgrass

JK Marlow    s050904_b

September    Transylvania County    NC

DuPont State Forest

The inflorescence is open and freely banched, spreading, pyramidal, per Wildflowers of Tennessee (Carman, 2005).

image of Panicum virgatum var. virgatum, Switchgrass, Prairie Switchgrass

JK Marlow    s050904_c

September    Transylvania County    NC

DuPont State Forest

image of Panicum virgatum var. virgatum, Switchgrass, Prairie Switchgrass

JK Marlow    jkm071027_024

October    Abbeville County    SC

Roadside

image of Panicum virgatum var. virgatum, Switchgrass, Prairie Switchgrass

JK Marlow    jkm201015_7731

October    Transylvania County    NC

DuPont State Forest

image of Panicum virgatum var. virgatum, Switchgrass, Prairie Switchgrass

JK Marlow    jkm201015_7734

October    Transylvania County    NC

DuPont State Forest

image of Panicum virgatum var. virgatum, Switchgrass, Prairie Switchgrass

JK Marlow    jkm201015_7736

October    Transylvania County    NC

DuPont State Forest

image of Panicum virgatum var. virgatum, Switchgrass, Prairie Switchgrass

JK Marlow    jkm201015_7738

October    Transylvania County    NC

DuPont State Forest

Scaly creeping rhizomes, per Manual of the Grasses of the United States (Hitchcock & Chase, 1950).

image of Panicum virgatum var. virgatum, Switchgrass, Prairie Switchgrass

JK Marlow    jkm201015_7740

October    Transylvania County    NC

DuPont State Forest

Culms erect, tough and hard, 1-2 (rarely 3) meters tall, per Manual of the Grasses of the United States (Hitchcock & Chase, 1950).

image of Panicum virgatum var. virgatum, Switchgrass, Prairie Switchgrass

JK Marlow    jkm201017_7792

October    Transylvania County    NC

DuPont State Forest

image of Panicum virgatum var. virgatum, Switchgrass, Prairie Switchgrass

JK Marlow    jkm201017_7813

October    Transylvania County    NC

DuPont State Forest

Spikelets 3.5-6mm long with the tip acuminate, per Wildflowers of the Sandhills Region (Sorrie, 2011).

image of Panicum virgatum var. virgatum, Switchgrass, Prairie Switchgrass

JK Marlow    jkm081102_120

November    McCormick County    SC

Sumter National Forest: Edgefield Ranger District

Panicle large and open, 15-50 cm long, per How to Know the Grasses: Pictured Key Nature Series (Pohl, 1954).

image of Panicum virgatum var. virgatum, Switchgrass, Prairie Switchgrass

JK Marlow    jkm081102_127

November    McCormick County    SC

Sumter National Forest: Edgefield Ranger District

Ligule ciliate or lacerate [torn, irregularly cleft or cut], 1-5mm long, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).

image of Panicum virgatum var. virgatum, Switchgrass, Prairie Switchgrass

JK Marlow    jkm081110_006

November    Buncombe County    NC

NC Arboretum

'Prairie Sky'.

 

 

WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/14/23):
Panicum virgatum var. virgatum   FAMILY Poaceae

INCLUDED WITHIN PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Panicum virgatum var. virgatum   FAMILY Poaceae

INCLUDED WITHIN Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Panicum virgatum var. virgatum

INCLUDED WITHIN Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 25
Panicum virgatum

INCLUDED WITHIN Floristic Synthesis of North America (Kartesz, 1999)
Panicum virgatum var. virgatum

INCLUDED WITHIN VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 029-81-006:
Panicum virgatum   FAMILY Poaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Grasses of the US (Hitchcock & Chase, 1950)
Panicum virgatum var. virgatum

SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Panicum virgatum var. virgatum

 

Find by SCIENTIFIC NAME:

1026

Grass, Sedge, or Rush
Perennial

Habitat: Dry or wet sandy soils of pinelands, fresh and brackish marshes, tidal swamps, interdune swales and ponds, riverside scour prairies, mafic fens, calcareous fens and spring marshes, rocky river shores and bars, and also frequently planted, per Weakley's Flora

Native to the Carolinas & Georgia

Common in Coastal Plain & GA Piedmont (uncommon to rare elsewhere in GA-NC-SC)

map
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.

LEAVES:
Simple
Alternate, 2-ranked (plants lacking a rosette of overwintering basal leaves)

RHIZOMES? STOLONS?
Rhizomatous

FLOWER:
Summer/Fall

Inflorescence a panicle

FRUIT:
Summer/Fall
Grain grayish
Grain

 

TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!



 


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