witch grass
Panicum capillare
When mature, the entire airy seed head breaks off and tumbles in the wind like a miniature tumbleweed, dispersing up to 10,000 seeds as it rolls.
- Scientific name
- Panicum capillare
- Taxonomy
- Plantae › Tracheophyta › Liliopsida › Poales › Poaceae › Panicum
- IUCN Red List status
- Least Concern
- Population trend
- stable
- Biome
- grassland
- Habitat
- Disturbed soils, agricultural fields, roadsides, prairies, and sandy shores.
- Diet
- Photosynthetic (autotroph, utilizing sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide).
- Range
- North America, Europe, South America, Asia
- Size
- 30 to 80 cm tall, with branching panicles up to 30 cm long.
- Lifespan
- Annual (lives for a single growing season, typically 6-8 months).
- Active
- diurnal
- Threats
- Excessive herbicide application and intensive agricultural tilling.
- Safe to approach?
- Harmless. Witch grass is completely safe to touch and handle. During late summer and autumn, you can observe its dry, airy seedheads breaking free to tumble across open ground. Individuals with severe grass pollen allergies should avoid close contact during its mid-summer flowering phase.
Panicum capillare , known by the common name witchgrass , is a species of grass. It is native plant to most of North America from the East Coast through all of the West Coast and California. It can be found as an introduced species in Eurasia, and as a weed in gardens and landscaped areas. It grows in many types of habitat.
Photo: Matt Lavin, CC-BY, via iNaturalist
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