Witchgrass

Prepared by Jennifer L. D’Appollonio, Assistant Scientist, University of Maine, Orono, ME 04469. Updated February 2018.

Scientific name: Panicum capillare L.

Common name(s): witchgrass, tickle grass, witch’s hair, tumbleweed grass, witch panicgrass

Links: USDA PLANTS Profile, NPIN Profile, Go Botany

Images: (to see enlargements [PC]: click on image, then right click and choose “view image”)

Description:

– annual

-leaf sheath 4–8 cm long

-Inflorescence 15–40 cm long

– Spikelet: 2-3.5 mm long and 1 mm wide

  • lanceolate to elliptic

-three veins

Habitat:

-fields and meadows

-roadsides

-open spaces

 

Sources:

Robert W. Freckmann & Robert Webster 2012, Panicum capillare, in Jepson Flora Project (eds.) Jepson eFlora, https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_display.php?tid=36094, accessed on January 21, 2021.