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Native Plant Propagation Guidelines:
grasses & sedges

Dichanthelium acuminatum (western witchgrass)

Category: 
grasses and sedges

western witchgrass (photo by Keir Morse)

Tufted perennial; stems yellowish-green, leafy towards base, spreading, usually velvety-hairy, 15-40 cm tall. Leaves flat, firm, erect to ascending, hairy, 5-10 mm wide, no auricles; ligules 3-4 mm long, consisting of long hairs. Inflorescence a panicle, open, 3-9 cm long; spikelets up to 2 mm long, short-hairy, two flowered, the lower flower sterile; glumes unequal in size; fertile lemmas hardened (Pojar and MacKinnon, 1994). Photo by Keir Morse.

Scientific Name: 

Dichanthelium acuminatum (Sw.) Gould & Clark Dichanthelium acuminatum var. fasciculatum (Torr.) Freckmann (Panicum occidentale [Scribn.])

Family: 
Poaceae
English Name: 
western witchgrass
Other Names: 
western panicgrass

Geographical Range and Habitat Requirements

Ecological Setting: 

Moist, sandy ground (lakeshores, beaches, stream banks), rocky and gravelly areas in bogs, meadows and open forests at low to mid elevations (Pojar and MacKinnon, 1994).

Soil Texture: 

Sandy, rocky and gravelly (S. Bastin, personal communication).

Nutrients: 
n/a
Soil Reaction and Salinity: 
n/a
Moisture Regime: 

Moist to wet (S. Bastin, personal communication).

Shade Tolerance: 

Sun to light shade (S. Bastin, personal communication).

Successional Status: 
n/a
BEC Zone and GOE Community Status: 
n/a

Uses

Site Rehabilitation: 
n/a
Wildlife: 
n/a
Landscaping: 

Useful groundcover in controlled moist area. Attractive fall/winter colour. Excellent in poorly-drained locations (S. Bastin, personal communication).

First Nations: 
n/a
Other Uses: 
n/a

Seed Propagation

Flowering Time: 
n/a
Fruit Ripening Time: 
n/a
Seed Collection Time: 
n/a
Crop Intervals: 
n/a
Number of Seeds per Kilogram: 
n/a
Seed Viability: 
n/a
Fruit and Seed Collection and Extraction: 
n/a
Seed Storage: 
n/a
Fruit/Seed Dormancy and Treatment: 

No treatment required.

Vegetative Propagation

Plant division: Care must be taken to ensure adequate root mass is attached to each division (S. Bastin, personal communication).

Outplanting Characteristics and Requirements

Transplants well, establishes quickly but can be very aggressive (S. Bastin, personal communication).

Seed and Cutting Propagation Techniques

n/a

Additional Information and Photos

For more information and pictures, visit the E-Flora BC website at www.eflora.bc.ca.

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