View source for Dichanthelium leucothrix

{{italic title}}
<!-- Get the taxonomy information from the NRCS Plants database -->
{{taxobox
| name = Dichanthelium leucothrix
| image = Dich_leuc.jpg
| image_caption = Photo by Guy Anglin, [http://www.florida.plantatlas.usf.edu/ Atlas of Florida Vascular Plants] 
| regnum = Plantae
| divisio = Magnoliophyta - Flowering plants
| classis = Liliopsida – Monocotyledons
| ordo = Poales
| familia = Poaceae ⁄ Gramineae
| genus = ''Dichanthelium''
| species = '''''D. leucothrix'''''
| binomial = ''Dichanthelium leucothrix''
| binomial_authority = (Nash) Freckmann
| range_map = DICH_LEUC_dist.jpg
| range_map_caption = Natural range of ''Dichanthelium leucothrix'' from USDA NRCS [http://www.plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=DILE4 Plants Database].
}}

Common names: Rough panicgrass; Rough witchgrass
==Taxonomic notes==
Synonyms: ''Dicanthelium acuminatum'' (Swartz) Gould & Clark ''var. implicatum'' (Scribner) Gould & Clark; ''D. acuminatum ssp. leucothrix'' (Nash) Freckmann & Lelong; ''Panicum acuminatum'' Swartz ''var. leucothrix'' (Nash) Lelong; ''P. leucothrix'' Nash; ''P. spretum'' J.A. Schultes; ''P. spretum var. leucothrix'' (Nash) D.B. Ward.<ref name="weakley">Weakley, A.S. 2015. Flora of the southern and mid-atlantic states. Working Draft of 21 May 2015. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina.</ref> 

Varieties: none.<ref name="weakley">Weakley, A.S. 2015. Flora of the southern and mid-atlantic states. Working Draft of 21 May 2015. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina.</ref>

==Description== 
<!-- Basic life history facts such as annual/perrenial, monoecious/dioecious, root morphology, seed type, etc. -->
Generally, for the ''Dichanthelium'' genus, they have "spikelets usually in panicles, round or nearly so in cross section, 2-flowered, terminal fertile, basal sterile, neutral or staminate. First glume usually present, 2nd glume and sterile lemma similar; fertile lemma and palea indurate without hyaline margins. Taxonomically our most difficult and least understood genus of grasses, more than 100 species an varieties are ascribed to the Carolinas by some authors. Note general descriptions for species groups (e.g., 1-4, 5-8, 9-13, and 26-62)." <ref name="Radford et al 1964">Radford, Albert E., Harry E. Ahles, and C. Ritchie Bell. Manual of the Vascular Flora of the Carolinas. 1964, 1968. The University of North Carolina Press. 142-155. Print.</ref>

Specifically, for the ''D. leucothrix'' species, they are "perennial with distinct basal rosettes; branching, when present, from nodes above basal rosette. Leaves basal and cauline, vernal and autumnal. Culms 3-6.5 dm tall, nodes slightly bearded, internodes glabrous or pilose. Blades to 6 cm long, 2-5 cm wide, glabrous above, setose basally, puberulent beneath, margins scaberulous, basally ciliate; sheaths sparsely pilose or glabrous, margins occasionally ciliate; ligules ciliate, 2-3 mm long. Panicle 3-6 cm long, 2.5-4 cm broad; rachis appressed pilose or glabrous, branches spreading, smoothish. Spikelets ellipsoid, 1.2-1.4 mm long; pedicels smoothish. First glume glabrous or pubescent, truncate or acute, 0.2-0.5 mm long, 2nd glume and sterile lemma pubescent, obtuse, 1.2-1.4 mm long; fertile lemma and palea 1.1-1.5 mm long. Grain not seen." <ref name="Radford et al 1964"/>

==Distribution==
==Ecology==
===Habitat=== <!--Natural communities, human disturbed habitats, topography, hydrology, soils, light, fire regime requirements for removal of competition, etc.-->
''Dichanthelium leucothrix'' can occur in longleaf pine-wiregrass flatwoods, and cypress-gum depressions in flatwoods. <ref name="FSU Herbarium">Florida State University Robert K. Godfrey Herbarium database. URL: [http://herbarium.bio.fsu.edu http://herbarium.bio.fsu.edu]. Last accessed: October 2015. Collectors: H.L. Blomquist and Robert K. Godfrey. States and Counties: Florida: Liberty. North Carolina: Carteret.</ref>
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===Fire ecology=== <!--Fire tolerance, fire dependence, adaptive fire responses-->
Populations of ''Dichanthelium leucothrix'' have been known to persist through repeated annual burns.<ref>Robertson, K.M. Unpublished data collected from Pebble Hill Fire Plots, Pebble Hill Plantation, Thomasville, Georgia.</ref>
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''Dichanthelium leucothrix'' is an indicator species for the Lower Panhandle Savannas community type as described in Carr et al. (2010).<ref>Carr, S.C., K.M. Robertson, and R.K. Peet. 2010. A vegetation classification of fire-dependent pinelands of Florida. Castanea 75:153-189.</ref>

==Conservation, cultivation, and restoration==

==Cultural use==
==Photo Gallery==
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==References and notes==