G.455. Panicum L.

Description of the genus

Annuals or perennials. Leaves: lamina variable, from linear to ovate. Inflorescence a panicle, usually much branched, but occasionally ± contracted about the primary branches. Spikelets dorsally flattened, rarely slightly gibbous; lower glume usually shorter than (rarely equal to) the spikelet; upper glume as long as, the spikelet, often with a stipe-like internode between the glumes; lower floret male or barren; its lower lemma resembling the upper glume; upper lemma crustaceous; margin involute and clasping only the edges of the palea. A generally recognisable genus but the following could be confused with it: Brachiaria deflexa, Eriochloa meyeriana, Tricholaena monachne.

Worldwide: 500 species or more in tropical and warm temperate zones

Rwanda: 3 taxa.

Insects associated with this genus:
Achaea echo (Echo moth) Food plant
Borbo fatuellus (Long-horned swift) Larval foodplant
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Links to taxa:     View: living plant images - herbarium specimen images - all images for this genus

SpeciesFZ divisionsContent
eickii MezDescription
heterostachyum Hack.Description, Image
pusillum Hook. f.

Other sources of information about Panicum:

Our websites:

Flora of Botswana: Panicum
Flora of Burundi: Panicum
Flora of Caprivi: Panicum
Flora of Malawi: Panicum
Flora of Mozambique: Panicum
Flora of Zambia: Panicum
Flora of Zimbabwe: Panicum
Flora of Zimbabwe: cultivated Panicum

External websites:

African Plants: A Photo Guide (Senckenberg): Panicum
BHL (Biodiversity Heritage Library): Panicum
EOL (Encyclopedia of Life): Panicum
GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility): Panicum
Google: Web - Images - Scholar
iNaturalist: Panicum
IPNI (International Plant Names Index): Panicum
JSTOR Plant Science: Panicum
Mansfeld World Database of Agricultural and Horticultural Crops: Panicum
Plants of the World Online: Panicum
Tropicos: Panicum
Wikipedia: Panicum

Copyright: The Rwanda flora team, 2024-25

The Rwanda flora team (2025). Flora of Rwanda: Genus page: Panicum.
https://www.rwandaflora.com/speciesdata/genus.php?genus_id=191, retrieved 2 April 2025

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