(Panicum sect. Dichotomiflora (Hitchc. & Chase) Honda and P. sect. Virgata Hitchc. & Chase ex Pilg. (Poaceae: Panicoideae: Paniceae) in Brazil). Panicum L. subg. Panicum includes nearly 100, mostly tropical and subtropical species; of these, 50 taxa are American, ranging from Canada to Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay. A total of 30 species are present in Brazil, three without a defined section and 27 included in P. sect. Dichotomiflora (Hitchc. & Chase) Honda, P. sect. Panicum, P. sect. Rudgeana (Hitchc.) Zuloaga, P. sect. Urvilleana (Hitchc. & Chase) Pilger and P. sect. Virgata Hitchc. & Chase ex Pilg. The aim of this paper is to present a systematic study of native and naturalized species of P. sect. Dichotomiflora and P. sect. Virgata in Brazil: Panicum sect. Dichotomiflora has 6 species in the country (of a total of 11 species in the section), growing in wet habitats suh as swamps or river banks. Panicum sect. Virgata includes 4 species in Brazil, present in habitats such as grasslands "cerrado" and swamps. Keys to the species of both sections are given, as well as tables, morphological descriptions, illustrations, and scanning electron micrographs of the upper anthecium surface.
Brazil; Gramineae; Panicum; taxonomy
