Japanese name: オオクサキビ（大草黍） Scientific name:Panicum dichotomiflorum
[Overview]
An annual 0.4–1 m tall, found along roadsides and on riverbanks.
The whole plant is hairless.
The culms (stems) grow in clumps and are rather thick.
The leaves are alternate and linear, 20–40 cm long; the ligule is short and has hairs on the margin.
The leaf sheaths are smooth and hairless.
The flower spike is at first wrapped at the base by the leaf sheath, and later becomes conical, 15–30 cm long and 10–25 cm across, with ascending branches.
The spikelets are pressed against the branches and sometimes tinged with purple; the spikelet stalks bear small prickles and are rough.
The first glume is 1/5 the length of the spikelet.
The lemma of the second floret is glossy.
[History]
It was recorded in Chiba in 1927 and has naturalized throughout Japan.
