Dichanthelium commutatum(Schult.) Gould

Variable Rosette Grassvariable panicgrass

WFO wfo-0000863400 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC BY / CC BY-SA

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Dichanthelium commutatum, photographed by Michael J. Papay
fig. a Michael J. Papay, CC BY 4.0 / 2022-05-05 / obs. 195128446
Dichanthelium commutatum, photographed by Josiah Londerée
fig. b Josiah Londerée, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 186872227
Dichanthelium commutatum, photographed by Alex Abair
fig. c Alex Abair, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 58166556
Dichanthelium commutatum, photographed by Will McFarland
fig. d Will McFarland, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 50286705
Dichanthelium commutatum, photographed by Mike B
fig. e Mike B, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 45780914
Dichanthelium commutatum, photographed by jrrigby
fig. f jrrigby, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 19593437
Dichanthelium commutatum, photographed by Bill Sheehan
fig. g Bill Sheehan, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 67548262
Dichanthelium commutatum, photographed by Jay Horn
fig. h Jay Horn, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 197967581

Every figure is a research-grade observation under CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA, rehosted with the photographer’s name, the licence and the observation it came from. Photographs under a NonCommercial licence are excluded from this site and are never stored, which costs us a great many pictures and is not negotiable.

Native range 44 botanical countries

Regions where Dichanthelium commutatum is native: Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mexico Central, Mexico Gulf, Mexico Northeast, Mexico Southeast, Mexico Southwest, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode I., South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia, Argentina Northwest, Bahamas, Cuba, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Nicaragua, Peru AlabamaArkansasConnecticutFloridaGeorgiaIllinoisIndianaKentuckyLouisianaMaineMarylandMassachusettsMexico CentralMexico GulfMexico NortheastMexico SoutheastMexico SouthwestMichiganMississippiMissouriNew JerseyNew YorkNorth CarolinaOhioOklahomaPennsylvaniaSouth CarolinaTennesseeTexasVirginiaWest VirginiaArgentina NorthwestCubaDominican RepublicEl SalvadorGuatemalaHaitiHondurasNicaraguaPeru DelawareDistrict of ColumbiaRhode I.Bahamas
Native distribution of Dichanthelium commutatum, after Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Introduced, extinct and doubtful records are excluded, so this is where the plant is from, not everywhere it now grows. Regions too small to draw at this scale are marked with a dot.
RegionTDWG codeContinent
Alabama ALA NORTHERN AMERICA
Arkansas ARK
Connecticut CNT
Delaware DEL
District of Columbia WDC
Florida FLA
Georgia GEO
Illinois ILL
Indiana INI
Kentucky KTY
Louisiana LOU
Maine MAI
Maryland MRY
Massachusetts MAS
Mexico Central MXC
Mexico Gulf MXG
Mexico Northeast MXE
Mexico Southeast MXT
Mexico Southwest MXS
Michigan MIC
Mississippi MSI
Missouri MSO
New Jersey NWJ
New York NWY
North Carolina NCA
Ohio OHI
Oklahoma OKL
Pennsylvania PEN
Rhode I. RHO
South Carolina SCA
Tennessee TEN
Texas TEX
Virginia VRG
West Virginia WVA
Argentina Northwest AGW SOUTHERN AMERICA
Bahamas BAH
Cuba CUB
Dominican Republic DOM
El Salvador ELS
Guatemala GUA
Haiti HAI
Honduras HON
Nicaragua NIC
Peru PER

Region boundaries approximated from Natural Earth (public domain) and mapped to TDWG World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions (WGSRPD) level-3 botanical countries (Brummitt 2001). Indicative, not the official WGSRPD geometry.

Where it actually grows measured, from 627 observations

Condition 5th percentile Median 95th percentile
Coldest month, mean daily low -2.8 °C 7.8 °C 15.1 °C
Warmest month, mean daily high 28.5 °C 31.7 °C 33.5 °C
Annual rainfall 1,150 mm 1,355 mm 1,706 mm
Rainfall in the driest quarter 140 mm 235 mm 341 mm

It is found where winters bring light frost. This is not care advice and it is not a forecast. It is a measurement: we sampled the climate at every one of the 627 research-grade observations of Dichanthelium commutatum that carry a coordinate, and this is the range those places actually span. The 5th and 95th percentiles are used rather than the minimum and maximum, because a single cultivated specimen in a heated conservatory should not widen a tropical plant's range to the Arctic.

This is not a hardiness zone. A USDA zone is the average annual extreme minimum temperature. The figure above is the mean daily minimum of the coldest month, which is a different quantity and is typically far warmer. Reading one as the other would place a plant several zones too warm, so we do not publish a hardiness zone, because we do not have one.

Also published as 27 synonyms

A synonym is not an error. It is a record of botanists disagreeing, in print, about where this plant belongs. Each of these was somebody’s considered answer.

  • Dichanthelium ashei (T.G.Pearson ex Ashe) Mohlenbr.
  • Dichanthelium ashei (T.G.Pearson ex Ashe) Mohlenbr.
  • Dichanthelium commutatum subsp. ashei (T.G.Pearson ex Ashe) Freckmann & Lelong
  • Dichanthelium commutatum subsp. joorii (Vasey) Freckmann & Lelong
  • Dichanthelium commutatum var. ashei (T.G.Pearson ex Ashe) Mohlenbr.
  • Dichanthelium joori (Vasey) Mohlenbr.
  • Panicum ashei T.G.Pearson ex Ashe
  • Panicum commelinifolium Ashe
  • Panicum commutatum Schult.
  • Panicum commutatum var. joorii (Vasey) Fernald
  • Panicum commutatum var. latifolium Scribn.
  • Panicum commutatum var. minus Vasey
  • Panicum cordifolium Desv.
  • Panicum curranii Ashe
  • Panicum divergens Kunth
  • Panicum enslini Trin.
  • Panicum enslinii Trin.
  • Panicum epilifolium Nash
  • Panicum hintonii Swallen
  • Panicum joorii Vasey
  • Panicum leiophyllum E.Fourn.
  • Panicum manatense Nash
  • Panicum nervosum Muhl. ex Elliott
  • Panicum nitidum var. majus Pursh

and 3 more.

Sourcesevery claim on this page

  1. World Flora Online Plant List. accepted name, authority, classification. CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-12.
  2. iNaturalist. photographs and flowering annotations, CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA only. per photograph. Retrieved 2026-06-27.
  3. Wikidata. common name (P1843), joined on the World Flora Online identifier (P7715). CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-13.
  4. Kew, World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP v16). native distribution by TDWG level-3 botanical country, and life form. CC BY 3.0. Retrieved 2026-06-04.

We publish what we can source and we say so when we cannot. This page has no care advice and no toxicity claim, because we do not yet have those from a source we can cite.