Tapered Rosette Grass

Panicum acuminatum v Sw. Prodr. 23. 1788
Panicum ornatum Desv.; Hamilt. Prodr. 11. 1825.
Panicum dichotomum acuminatum Sw.; Griseb. Fl. Brit. W. Ind. 553. 1864.
Panicum comophyllum Nash, Bull. Torrey Club 30: 380. 1903.
Vernal culms leafy, ascending from a geniculate base, 20-70 cm. high, densely villous with soft, spreading hairs, rarely glabrate above, the nodes more or less bearded ; leaf -sheaths velvety papillosevillous or the upper glabrate; ligule 2-3 mm. long; blades ascending or spreading, 4-8 cm. long, 6-13 mm. wide, lanceolate, slightly cordate at base, sharply acuminate, usually ciliate, the lower surface velvety papillose-pub erulent, the upper surface from appressed papillose-pubescent to longvillous, or nearly glabrous except for long hairs near the base or margin ; panicles 3-10 cm. long, about as wide, the axis usually villous, the branches flexuous, the lower spreading or even reflexed; spikelets 1.8-1.9 mm. long, 0.9 mm. wide, obovate, turgid, abruptly subacute, pilose ; first glume about one third the length of the spikelet, subacute ; second glume and sterile lemma barely equaling the fruit at maturity; fruit 1.3-1.4 mm. long, 0.9 mm. wide, elliptic, abruptly acute.
Autumnal phase appearing early, the primary culms branching at all but the uppermost nodes before the maturity of the primary panicles, these branches often exceeding the culm, more or less zigzag, repeatedly branching, the ultimate branchlets in dense, short, flabellate fascicles, the reduced blades flat or involute-pointed, the long hairs on the margins and upper surface usually conspicuous.
Type locality: Jamaica.
Distribution: West Indies; also in Colombia.

Perennials, Terrestrial, not aquatic, Rhizomes present, Stems nodes swollen or brittle, Stems erect or ascending, Stems caespitose, tufted, or clustered, Stems terete, round in cross section, or polygonal, Stem nodes bearded or hairy, Plants conspicuously hairy, grayish, or wooly, Stem internodes hollow, Stems with inflorescence less than 1 m tall, Stems, culms, or scapes exceeding basal leaves, Leaves mostly basal, below middle of stem, Leaves conspicuously 2-ranked, distichous, Leaves sheathing at base, Leaf sheath mostly open, or loose, Leaf sheath smooth, glabrous, Leaf sheath hairy, hispid or prickly, Leaf sheath hairy at summit, throat, or collar, Leaf sheath and blade differentiated, Leaf blades lanceolate, Leaf blades ovate, Leaf blades 2-10 mm wide, Leaf blades 1-2 cm wide, Leaf blades mostly flat, Leaf blades more or less hairy, Ligule present, Ligule a fringe of hairs, Inflorescence terminal, Inflorescence an open panicle, openly paniculate, branches spreading, Inflorescence a contracted panicle, narrowly paniculate, branc hes appressed or ascending, Inflorescence solitary, with 1 spike, fascicle, glomerule, head, or cluster per stem or culm, Inflorescence branches more than 10 to numerous, Flowers bisexual, Spikelets pedicellate, Spikelets dorsally compressed or terete, Inflorescence or spikelets partially hidden in leaf sheaths, subtended by spatheole, Spikelet less than 3 mm wide, Spikelets with 1 fertile floret, Spikelets with 2 florets, Spikelets solitary at rachis nodes, Spikelets all alike and fertille, Spikelets bisexual, Spikelets disarticulating below the glumes, Rachilla or pedicel glabrous, Glumes present, empty bracts, Glumes 2 clearly present, Glumes distinctly unequal, Glumes equal to or longer than adjacent lemma, Glume equal to or longer than spikelet, Glumes 3 nerved, Glumes 4-7 nerved, Lemma similar in texture to glumes, Lemma coriaceous, firmer or thicker in texture than the glumes, Lemma becoming indurate, enclosing palea and caryopsis, Lemma 3 nerved, Lemma 5-7 nerved, Le mma 8-15 nerved, Lemma glabrous, Lemma apex truncate, rounded, or obtuse, Lemma awnless, Lemma margins inrolled, tightly covering palea and caryopsis, Lemma straight, Palea present, well developed, Palea about equal to lemma, Stamens 3, Styles 2-fid, deeply 2-branched, Stigmas 2, Fruit - caryopsis.

Dichanthelium acuminatum, the tapered rosette grass, is a species of grass from the genus Dichanthelium, in North America.

Dichanthelium acuminatum forms a hybridization complex with other Dichanthelium species such as D. dichotomum, D. sphaerocarpon, D. ovale, and D. aciculare.

Dichanthelium acuminatum has been successfully raised in cultivation for seed production.