[Neurachne montanum Gaud.; Panicum cinereum Hillebr.; P. gossypinum Hook. & Arnott; P. montanum Gaud.; P. nubigenum Kunth]
(end) Kakonakona, hakonakona (Ni- ‘ihau)
Cespitose annuals; culms 8-90 cm tall, unbranched or branched, villous or velvety puberulent, the nodes villous. Leaves cauline; sheaths villous or velvety puberulent; ligule a ciliate membrane, 0.7-2 mm long, the membrane 0.1-0.7 mm long, the cilia 0.6-1.4 mm long; blades 4-29 cm long, 0.2-1.5 cm wide, flat, villous or velvety puberulent. Panicles 3-23 cm long, axis villous, branches ascending, villous; spikelets 1.9-5.1 mm long, acuminate, villous; glumes villous with hairs 1-3 mm long, apex often curved outward, first glume as long as spikelets, acuminate or rarely acute, 5-7- nerved, second glume shorter than first glume, acute to acuminate, 5-9-nerved; first floret sterile, first lemma shorter than second glume, glabrous to villous, 7- nerved, first palea V4-V2 as long as first lemma; second floret dark brown with white nerves at maturity, 1.2-2 mm long, 0.5-0.8 mm wide, elliptic, smooth, glossy; anthers 0.7-1.2 mm long. [2n = 18*.] Common in arid, open, often weedy coastal flats, 0-500 m, on Necker, Nihoa, and all of the main islands.—Plate 233.
This is the most common and widely dis-tributed of the native Panicum species. It is most closely related to P. ramosius. Certain collections [e.g., Char & Yoshida 78073 (BISH), Moloka‘i] with merely velvety puberulent leaves may possibly be a result of hybridization between the 2 species.