Field Paspalum Grass
Walk through a dry field in late July, and where the earlier grasses have matured and faded green spikes of Slender Paspalum are seen just peeping from their enclosing sheaths. The terminal spike is borne on a slender stem which at length rises many inches above the short upper leaf, while later, other spikes on shorter sterns usually protrude from the same sheath. The blossoms of this species are slightly smaller than are those of the Field Paspalum (Paspalum laeve) which blooms at the same season in moister locations.
The two species are distinguished not alone by the more hairy leaves of Slender Paspalum, but also by the fact that the Field Paspalum bears two to five spikes where the other species commonly bears but one.