|
|
 Plant - summer Granite Mtn - Tr 308Sue Smith |  Plant - fall Rimrock Verde ValleyJohn Kava |  Leaf blade with hairs Rimrock Verde ValleyJohn Kava |  Seedhead Willow LakeSue Smith |  Seedhead Granite Mtn - Tr 308Sue Smith |  Seedhead Rimrock Verde ValleyJohn Kava |
|
| | |
Origin: Native Season: Warm
Habitat Description: Found in open grasslands, limestone outcrops, rocky slopes, woodlands and forest openings.
Plant Communities:Interior Chaparral, Semidesert Grasslands, Pinyon Juniper Woodland, Montane Conifer Forest
Elevation: 2500 - 7000 feet
Desc:
Tufted, erect grass, which forms wiry clumps. Purplish, oat-like spikelets on one side of the seedhead stem, bleaches to tan in the fall. Basal foliage often turns shades of purple and red in the fall. Largest and coarsest of the grama grasses.
Identification Notes: Tufted perennial, erect stems, short rhizomes. Sheaths are rounded, ligule short membranous and hairy. Leaves mostly flat, <8 inches long, hairs on margin near collar. Seedhead of short branches; spikelets one-sided, awnless or with very short awns.
Grass Type: Perennial bunchgrass Rhizomes: Y Stolons: N
Large Dense Clump (> 2 feet): N Bushy (highly branched): N
Height with Seedheads: 24 to 36 inches
Seedhead Structure: Branched - contracted Seedhead Droops: N
Flowering Period: Jun - Nov
Number of Flowers per Spikelet: Multi-flowered Spikelets One-sided: Y
Awns: Less than 1/4 inch Three Awns: Y Awns Bent: N
Flower and Seedhead Notes: Seedhead has 20 to 50 short deciduous branches off the main seedhead stem, each of which bears 3 to 8 spikelets. Spikelets have 1 fertile floret and 1 sterile floret; awns are absent or very short. Lemmas 3-veined, veins extend to <1/4 inch awns.
Blade Hairy:
Y
Blade with White Margins:
N
Blade Cross section:
Flat
Blade Notes:
Leaves are flat, 1 to 12 inches long and <1/4 inch wide. Leaves have hairs on the margins of the blades near the collar.
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:
Sideoats grama is highly palatable and nutritious and readily eaten by all classes of livestock and wildlife.
|
|
