Lindheimer Panicgrass

Panicum lindheimeri Nash, Bull. Torrey Club 24: 196. 1897
Panicum Funstoni Scribn. & Merr. Circ. U. S. Dep. Agr. Agrost. 35: 4. 1901.
Vernal culms stiffly ascending or spreading, 30-100 cm. high, glabrous, or the lower internodes ascending-pubescent, the nodes swollen; leaf -sheaths less than half as long as the elongate internodes, ciliate on the margin, otherwise glabrous, or the lower ascending-pubescent; ligule 4—5 mm. long; blades usually firm, 5-10 cm. long, 6-8 mm. wide, at first ascending, soon spreading, papillose-ciliate at the rounded base, glabrous on both surfaces, or minutely puberulent beneath; panicles 4-7 cm. long (rarely longer), nearly as wide, the branches ascending or spreading, loosely flowered; spikelets 1.4—1.6 mm. long, 0.8-0.9 mm. wide, obovate, obtuse, turgid, pubescent ; first glume one fourth as long as the spikelet or less, usually obtuse ; second glume and sterile lemma scarcely equaling the fruit at maturity; fruit 1.3-1.4 mm. long, 0.8 mm. wide, elliptic, obtuse.
Autumnal phase usually stiffly spreading or radiate-prostrate, the internodes elongate, with tufts of short, appressed branches at the nodes; blades reduced, involute-pointed and often conspicuously ciliate at base.
Type locality: New Braunfels, Texas.
Distribution: Maine to Florida, and west to Minnesota and California.

Dichanthelium lindheimeri, commonly called Lindheimer panicgrass, is a species of flowering plant in the grass family (Poaceae). It is native primarily to eastern areas the United States and Canada, with its range extending into the South Central region. There are also outlying western populations in California, New Mexico and Oregon.

It is most commonly associated with sandy, ephemerally wet soils. Typical habitats include prairies, glades, streambanks, floodplains, and lake shores.

Dichanthelium lindheimeri is a perennial grass that fruits from May to November. It superficially resembles the closely related Dichanthelium lanuginosum, but differs in a number of characters: D. lindheimeri has nearly-hairless sheathes and leaf surfaces, crooked marginal leaf cilia, and a shorter ligule. In addition, it is typically found in wetter habitats compared to the more dry-mesic D. lanuginosum.

Some authors choose to treat Dichanthelium lindheimeri and many other closely taxa as varieties of an expanded, highly polymorphic Dichanthelium acuminatum complex.