Panicum nephelophilum is a cespitose (growing in clumps) perennial grass that grows 45–240 cm tall. The culms are unbranched and can be glabrous, appressed pubescent, or papillose-pilose, with either glabrous or villous nodes. Its leaves are simple, alternate, and cauline, with blades ranging from 10 to 40 cm in length and 0.8 to 2.5 cm in width, generally flat and varying from glabrous to sparsely papillose-pilose or velvety short-pubescent. It features large panicles that are 15–60 cm long and terminal, with the lower branches usually whorled and widely spreading at maturity, having scabrid surfaces and usually pubescent axils. The spikelets (pictured) are 1.8–3.4 mm long, acuminate, and glabrous, with glumes as long as the spikelet, where the first glume is 5-7-nerved and the second glume is 7-nerved. The first floret is sterile, with the first lemma as long as or slightly shorter than the glumes, and a second floret elliptic to elliptic-lanceolate, smooth, and glossy. The anthers are purple and measure 0.9–1.5 mm long. The fruit is a caryopsis, and it is found in openings and along trails within dry to mesic forests and open secondary growth between 400–1,100 meters.
Bean-shaped (Reniform): Resembling the shape of a kidney or bean.
Square or Oblong: Angular shape with all sides more or less equal or longer than wide.
Triangular: Three-sided shape, broadest below the middle.
Elliptic: Rounded at both ends. shaped like an ellipse or oval.
Ovate or Obovate: egg-shaped, broader at one end.
Linear: Extremely long and narrow, with sides usually parallel.
Round: Appears circular, with length and width roughly the same.
Cardioid (Heart-Shaped): One edge has a prominent double curve into two lobes.
Cylindrical: A cylinder with parallel sides and a circular cross-section.
Discoid: Resembling a disc or plate with two relatively flat surfaces.
Fusiform: Spindle-shaped, tapering at both ends.
Globose: Spherical.
Lenticular: Resembling a lens with two convex surfaces.
Ovoid: Egg-shaped.
Plano-convex: Having a flat ventral (planar) surface and a curved dorsal (convex) surface.
Polygonal: Having more than three flat faces meeting at angles.
Sectoroid: Resembling a segment of an orange with two relatively flat faces and one curved face.
Subglobose/ellipsoid: Inflated shape but less than spherical.
Trigonous: Having three faces that meet at a distinct angle; triangular in cross-section.
Endangered species (E) are species that are so rare they’re in danger of becoming extinct.
Threatened species (T) are species that are likely to become endangered within the foreseeable future throughout all or a significant portion of their range.
Species of Concern (SOC) are species about which there are some concerns regarding status and threats, but insufficient information is available to list the species under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).
Plant Extinction Prevention (PEP) is a state status for rare plants that focuses its efforts on species that have fewer than 50 remaining wild individuals.
Orthodox seeds (desiccation-tolerant): can be dried to an internal seed moisture of less than 12% water and stored at freezing temperatures.
Intermediate seeds (temperature-sensitive) tend to age faster than orthodox seeds and may have only a 5-year lifespan when stored at -20°C. They are recommended for storage at 5°C.
Recalcitrant seeds (desiccation-sensitive): cannot be stored in a conventional freezer as they cannot survive after drying and/or freezing at -20°C. They are recommended for cryopreservation storage.