Common Name: switchgrassScientific Name: Panicum virgatum L.Family Name: Poaceae (Graminae) - Grass FamilyIdentification NotesLife Cyclenative perennial, reproducing by seed and scaly rhizomes that form large, dense clumps Culmsupright, tall, solitary, unbranched, smooth, coarse, round, light to medium green sometimes bluish Leavesblades flat, nearly smooth, triangular patch of hair on upperside near base; rolled in bud; auricles absent; ligule a fringe of silky hairs; sheaths smooth, shorter than internode, sometimes reddish or purplish near base; nodes swollen and usually dark co Seedheadsterminal panicle, branched, spreading widely, shape oval to pyramidal