1b. var. lindheimeri (Nash) Beetle

Pl. 164 c

P. lindheimeri Nash

P. lanuginosum var. lindheimeri (Nash) Fernald

Dichanthelium acuminatum var. lindheimeri (Nash) Gould & C.A. Clark

Flowering stems glabrous or rarely sparsely pubescent with short hairs toward the base. Leaf sheaths glabrous or the lowermost sheaths sparsely pubescent with relatively short, soft or stiff, ascending to spreading, nonpustular hairs. Spikelets 1.2–1.8 mm long. May–September (vernal), June–November (autumnal).

Scattered to common nearly throughout Missouri, but apparently absent from the northwestern portion of the state (U.S. and adjacent Canada; Mexico). Moist depressions of upland prairies and glades (on both calcareous and acidic substrates), and banks of streams, spring branches, and rivers; also roadsides, railroads, and open, disturbed areas.

Steyermark (1963) reluctantly accepted P. acuminatum var. longiligulatum (Nash) Lelong (also known as P. longiligulatum Nash, P. leucothrix Nash, and Dichanthelium acuminatum (Sw.) Gould & C.A. Clark var. longiligulatum (Nash) Gould & C.A. Clark) as a part of the flora, based upon a single collection from Newton County that he admitted was atypical in some spikelet features. Gould and Clark (1978) included Missouri in their range map of this taxon without comment. It differs from var. lindheimeri in its less strongly ciliate leaf bases and generally shorter, elliptic spikelets. Examination of Palmer 63506a, b (UMO) reveals that it is best treated as a specimen of var. lindheimeri, as suggested by Steyermark in his treatment (Steyermark, 1963) and his annotation of one of the sheets. As no other specimens could be located to represent var. longiligulatum in the herbaria examined during the present research, it is excluded from the flora in the present treatment.

Panicum acuminatum var. densiflorum (E.L. Rand & Redfield) Lelong, which occurs mostly on the Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plains, was excluded from the state’s flora by Steyermark (1963; as P. spretum Schult.).