Origin: Introduced   Season: Cool Habitat Description: Usually grows in disturbed sites such as roadsides, fields, and along railroad tracks. It prefers areas with rainfall of 10 to 20 inches. Common weed in fields where wheat is grown. Plant Communities:Disturbed Areas Elevation: Below 6000 feet
General Description
Desc:
Resembles winter wheat. Stems are hollow, 15 to 30 inches tall and may be upright, slightly laying down, or abruptly bent near the base. Seedlings emerge with favorable soil moisture mostly in late fall. Seedheads form in spring. Identification Notes: Annual. Cylindrical spikes; spikelets sessile and partly sunken into the flower stem. The flower spike may fall in its entire but eventually breaks apart into individual spikelets. Grass Type: Annual Rhizomes: N Stolons: N Large Dense Clump (> 2 feet): N Bushy (highly branched): N Height with Seedheads: 12 to 24 inches Seedhead Structure: Unbranched Seedhead Droops: N Flowering Period: Jun Flower Characteristics
Number of Flowers per Spikelet: Multi-flowered Spikelets One-sided: N Awns: Greater than 1 inch Three Awns: N Awns Bent: N Flower and Seedhead Notes: The seed head, 1 to 5 inches long and 1/8 inch wide, is a narrow cylinder composed of 2 to 12 spikelets each containing 3 to 5 flowers (florets). Upper floret awns 1-1/2 to 3 inches, lower forest awns less than 1/4 inch.
Vegetative Charcteristics
Blade Hairy:
Y
Blade with White Margins:
N
Blade Cross section:
Flat or involute
Blade Notes:
Stems branch at the base; the stems that branch off the main stems are called tillers. The first leaf to emerge on seedling jointed goatgrass is reddish to brownish-green. Blades are 1 to 6 inches long and less than 1/4 inch wide.
Sheath Hairy:
Y
Tuft of Hairs at top of Sheath or Collar:
Y
Ligules:
Membranous and hairy Auricles (Ear-like lobes at collar area:
N
Forage Value:
Livestock prefer to graze other grasses first but will eat under heavy grazing conditions.
Arizona Cooperative Extension
Yavapai County
840 Rodeo Dr #C
Prescott, AZ 86305
(928) 445-6590