Plant Guide

Dichanthelium oligosanthes (J.A. Schultes) Gould var. scribnerianum (Nash) Gould
Scribner's rosette grass

 

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 (A.S. Hitchc. & Chase) Gould -- rosette grass P

Species  Dichanthelium oligosanthes (J.A. Schultes) Gould -- Heller's rosette grass P

Variety  Dichanthelium oligosanthes (J.A. Schultes) Gould var. scribnerianum (Nash) Gould -- Scribner's rosette grass P

 

SYNONYM INFORMATION

 

Alternate Names

Scribner panic, Scribner panicum, Heller's rosette grass, Scribners panicum, scribner's panicum, Panicum helleri, Panicum scribnerianum, Panicum scoparium

 

Uses

Scribner’s rosette grass and other low panicums furnish some green forage to livestock during the winter.

 

Wildlife: Deer eat the green leaves and birds eat the seed.

 

Status

Please consult the PLANTS Web site and your State Department of Natural Resources for this plant’s current status, such as, state noxious status, and wetland indicator values.

 

Description

Grass Family (Poaceae).  Scribner’s rosette grass is a native, cool‑season, perennial bunch grass.  The height is less than 18 inches.  The leaf blade is broad with long stiff hairs on the margin and sometimes hairy underneath.  The leaf sheath is mostly basal, short, and hairy.  The seedhead has an open panicle.

 

Management

Low panicums grow so close to the ground that it is difficult for livestock to overgraze them.  Because they are seldom grazed between the time seedheads emerge in the spring and growth starts in the fall, no special management practices are required.

 

Establishment

Growth generally initiates in the late fall.  The basal leaves form rosettes, which grow little during the winter, but stay green.  It produces seedheads and leaves along the stems in the spring.  A few plants start growth in the spring and in the fall produce a reduced seedhead partly protected by the leaves.  Low panicums grow on all sites, except marshes.

 

Cultivars, Improved and Selected Materials (and area of origin)

Please contact your local NRCS Field Office.

 

Reference

Leithead, H.L., L.L. Yarlett, & T.N. Shiflett. 1976. 100 native forage grasses in 11 southern states. USDA SCS Agriculture Handbook No. 389, Washington, DC.

 

Prepared By & Species Coordinator:

Percy Magee

USDA NRCS National Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge, Louisiana

 

Edited: 13may02 ahv; jul03 ahv; 20sep05 jsp