Bill's Botanical Forays

8000!

Today I collected specimen number 8000 on my lifetime list.

The plant that has the honor of being my 8000th specimen in my collection is the Forked Panic Grass, scientific name Dichanthelium dichotomum (L.) Gould. Forked Panic Grass is a variable species with several different recognized sub-species.

Dichanthelium is Greek dich for “two” and anthelium for “flowering” – a fair translation is “twice-flowering”, and dicotomum means forked. Many members of the genus Dichanthelium characteristically take two forms, an erect form in late spring and early summer, and a mat-forming one in late summer and early fall. The plants bloom each time.

Last fall I collected the mat-forming form near the Bur Reed Swamp. To make the collection complete I went back to the same spot and collected the erect form, and this is the specimen that has the collection number 8000 attached to it.