| # The grass genera of the world |

L. Watson, T.D. Macfarlane, and M.J. Dallwitz

### Parodiophyllochloa Zuloaga & Morrone

~ Panicum

Habit, vegetative morphology. Perennial; decumbent. The flowering culms leafy. Culms herbaceous; decumbent. The shoots not aromatic. Leaf blades lanceolate to ovate; not pseudopetiolate; persistent. Ligule an unfringed membrane.

Reproductive organization. Plants bisexual, all with bisexual spikelets; with hermaphrodite florets. The spikelets all alike in sexuality; hermaphrodite. Plants exposed-cleistogamous and chasmogamous, or chasmogamous.

Inflorescence. Inflorescence paniculate; open (generally spreading); non-digitate. Primary inflorescence branches inserted all around the main axis. Inflorescence espatheate; not comprising ‘partial inflorescences’ and foliar organs.

Female-fertile spikelets. Spikelets pilose to glabrous, elliptic; falling with the glumes. Rachilla terminated by a female-fertile floret. Hairy callus absent.

Glumes two; very unequal to more or less equal; about equalling the spikelets; hairy, or hairless; awnless; non-carinate; similar. Lower glume 0.5–0.8 times the length of the upper glume; 3(–5) nerved. Upper glume 5(–11) nerved. Spikelets with incomplete florets. The incomplete florets proximal to the female-fertile florets. Spikelets with proximal incomplete florets. The proximal incomplete florets 1; epaleate; sterile.

Female-fertile florets 1. Lemmas ellipsoid to narrowly ovoid; decidedly firmer than the glumes; becoming indurated; apiculate, entire; mucronate; hairless; papillose, glabrous; non-carinate; having the margins inrolled against the palea. Palea present; relatively long; tightly clasped by the lemma; awnless, without apical setae; textured like the lemma. Palea back papillose.

Fruit, embryo and seedling. Hilum short. Embryo large; waisted.

Transverse section of leaf blade, physiology. C3.

Special diagnostic feature. Plants not as in Dichanthelium (q.v.) (with no overwintering rosette of leaves).

Classification. Watson & Dallwitz (1994): genus not recognised. Soreng et al. (2015): Panicoideae; Panicodae; Paniceae; Boivinellinae. 6 species.

Distribution, phytogeography, ecology. Mexico to Argentina.

Shade species (in humid places).

References, etc. Morphological/taxonomic: Morrone, O., Denham, S.S., Aliscioni, S.S. and Zuloaga, O. (2008). Syst. Bot. 33(1), 66–76.

Special comments. This inadequate description needs pursuing further, via Hitchcock & Chase (1915). Fruit data wanting. Anatomical data wanting.

We advise against extracting comparative information from the descriptions. This is much more easily achieved using the DELTA data files or the interactive key, which allows access to the character list, illustrations, full and partial descriptions, diagnostic descriptions, differences and similarities between taxa, lists of taxa exhibiting or lacking specified attributes, distributions of character states within any set of taxa, geographical distribution, and classifications. See also Guidelines for using data taken from Web publications.

Cite this publication as: ‘Watson, L., Macfarlane, T.D., and Dallwitz, M.J. 1992 onwards. The grass genera of the world: descriptions, illustrations, identification, and information retrieval; including synonyms, morphology, anatomy, physiology, phytochemistry, cytology, classification, pathogens, world and local distribution, and references. Version: 15th June 2025. delta-intkey.com’.

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