Panicum
Tufted, rhizomatous or stoloniferous annuals or perennials. Leaf-blades flat; ligules membranous, usually fringed. Inflorescence a panicle with appressed to widely spreading branches. Spikelets 2-flowered, but the lower generally male or barren; glumes 2, falling with the spikelet, the lower shorter than the upper; lower lemma with or without palea, not becoming hardened; upper lemma bisexual, both it and its palea becoming hardened.
About 500-600 species, almost cosmopolitan but mostly from warmer countries; 33 species in Australia (12 introduced), 14 in Victoria (8 introduced).
Walsh, N.G. (1994). Poaceae. In: Walsh, N.G.; Entwisle, T.J., Flora of Victoria Vol. 2, Ferns and Allied Plants, Conifers and Monocotyledons, pp. 356–627. Inkata Press, Melbourne.
Spinning
