Dichanthelium clandestinum

Dichanthelium clandestinum, the deertongue panicgrass, is a robust perennial grass native to eastern North America. It forms loose tufts 50-150 cm tall, with stout, erect to ascending culms arising from short, knotty rhizomes. Stems are mostly glabrous but bear a conspicuous ring of long stiff hairs at each node. The flat, broadly lanceolate leaf blades are 8-20 cm long and 1-3 cm wide, with rounded, clasping, ciliate bases and finely scabrid margins; the overall shape and texture suggest the tongue of a deer, the source of the common name. The spring inflorescence is an open, ovate terminal panicle 8-20 cm long bearing slightly hairy, ellipsoid spikelets 2.5-3 mm long. Later in the season, smaller cleistogamous panicles develop, partly hidden within the upper leaf sheaths. The species favours moist to mesic clearings, wood margins, stream banks, ditches, and disturbed roadsides on sandy or loamy soils.