Species Detail Grasses

Herbarium specimen - Utah State University, Intermountain Herbarium @http://swbiodiversity.org, Usage Rights: Public Domain (CC0 1.0)		Yavapai County Native & Naturalized Plants Bouteloua rothrockii - Rothrock's grama Plant Form: Grass Family: Poaceae


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	Grass Description - Glossary of Grass Terminology Origin: Native Season: Warm Habitat Description: Dry rocky hillsides, sandy mesas and desert grasslands. Plant Communities:Interior Chaparral, Semidesert Grasslands, Pinyon Juniper Woodland Elevation: 2300 - 5500 feet Similar Species: Bouteloua barbata, Bouteloua simplex General Description Desc: Mostly erect grass with short leaves and seedheads with 4 comb-like branches. Identification Notes: Annual-like. Like other Bouteloua it has short 1-sided spikes; greater than 40 spikelets per spike distinguish it from B. barbata and more than 2 spikes per seedhead from B. simplex. Spikes and glumes are persistent. Grass Type: Perennial bunchgrass Rhizomes: N Stolons: N Large Dense Clump (> 2 feet): N Bushy (highly branched): N Height with Seedheads: 12 to 24 inches Seedhead Structure: Branched - comblike branches Seedhead Droops: N Flowering Period: Jul - Sep Flower Characteristics Number of Flowers per Spikelet: One-flowered Spikelets One-sided: Y Awns: Less than 1/4 inch Three Awns: N Awns Bent: N Flower and Seedhead Notes: 2 to 4 spikes are 3/4 to 1-1/8 inches long. Fertile lemma hairy at base, deeply cleft, awns < 1/16 inch long. Rudiment densely hairy, cleft nearly to the base, awns longer than those of the fertile lemma. Often there is an awnless rudimentary spikelet. Vegetative Charcteristics Blade Hairy: Y Blade with White Margins: N Blade Cross section: Involute Blade Notes: Blades 1/4 to 4 inches long, < 1/16 inch wide; top surfaces usually sparsely covered with fuzz with a few nipple-like based hairs basally. Sheath Hairy: N Tuft of Hairs at top of Sheath or Collar: Y Ligules: Membranous Auricles (Ear-like lobes at collar area: N Forage Value: Good, not as high in palatability as blue grama, but an important range grass in southern Arizona.


	Arizona Cooperative Extension Yavapai County 840 Rodeo Dr #C Prescott, AZ 86305 (928) 445-6590	Version 8.0 http://cales.arizona.edu/yavapaiplants/SpeciesDetailGrass.php Last Updated: Dec 13, 2022 Content Questions/Comments: Email Matt Halldorson Legal Disclaimer