Plants usually spreading. Leaves mostly cauline; bladesto 31 cm long, 2.2-19 mm wide, lax to straight, long pubescent, hairs 1.5-4 mm, yellow-green, margins ciliate, with long stiff hairs. Panicle branches 2.2-9.9 cm; branch axes 0.6-1.5 mm wide. Spikelets 1.7-2.1 mm long, 1.2-1.6 mm wide, elliptic to obovate (rarely suborbicular), glabrous or pubescent; lower lemmas with or without an evident midvein; upper florets 1.7-2.1 mm.

Paspalum setaceum var. supinum grows at the edges of forests and in disturbed areas. Within the Flora region, its range extends from Texas, Arkansas, and Louisiana to South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida.

Paspalum setaceum var. supinum resembles var. muhlenbergii, differing in its spreading habit and, usually, in its spikelet shape and lack of a midvein on the lower lemma.

Perennial herb with short rhizomes or forming tufts 25 cm - 1 m tall

Leaves: mostly consisting of stem leaves, alternate, two-ranked. Sheaths open, sometimes hairy. Ligules to 0.5 mm long, membranous. Blades straight to lax, to 31 cm long, 2 - 19 mm wide, lance-shaped, flat, parallel-veined, long-hairy (hairs 1.5 - 4 mm long), fringed with long stiff hairs.

Inflorescence: a branched arrangement of spikelets (panicle), terminal and axillary, bearing one to six spike-like branches. Axillary panicles completely or partially enclosed by a subtending leaf sheath. Branches ascending to spreading, often bowed, 2 - 10 cm long, with spikelets mostly arranged in two rows along one side of the branch. Branch axes 0.6 - 1.5 mm wide, sometimes rough.

Fruit: a caryopsis, indehiscent, enclosed within the persistent lemma and palea, white, elliptic to nearly orbicular.

Culm: spreading, 25 cm - 1 m long, round in cross-section, hollow. Nodes sometimes hairy.

Spikelets: paired, overlapping, arranged along one side of the inflorescence branch, appressed to the branch axis, bearing two florets, straw-colored or brown, 1.5 - 2 mm long, 1 - 1.5 mm wide, plano-convex (one side flat, the other convex), reverse egg-shaped to elliptic, sometimes hairy.

Glumes:: Lower glumes absent. Upper glumes nearly equal to lower lemmas, rounded at the apex, three-veined, sometimes shortly glandular-hairy, membranous.

Lemmas:: Lower lemmas nearly equal to upper glumes, rounded at the apex, sometimes shortly glandular-hairy, membranous, three-veined, with or without an evident midvein. Upper lemmas clasping the paleas, straw-colored to brown, convex, smooth to slightly wrinkled, with rolled-up margins on the upper surface.

Paleas:: Lower paleas rudimentary or absent. Upper paleas straw-colored to brown, smooth to slightly wrinkled.

Florets:: Lower florets sterile. Upper florets bisexual, straw-colored, 1.5 - 2 mm long. Anthers three. Stigmas red.

Similar species: No information at this time.

Flowering: June to September

Habitat and ecology: Disturbed areas.

Occurence in the Chicago region: native

Etymology: Paspalum comes from the Greek word paspalos, a type of millet. Setaceum means bristle-like. Supinum means sprawling.

Author: The Morton Arboretum