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 |    |  Seedheads Max Licher @http://swbiodiversity.org, Usage Rights: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) |  Spikelets Max Licher @http://swbiodiversity.org, Usage Rights: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) |  |  |  |  |  
    
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 Origin: Native    Season: Cool
 Habitat Description: Dry open slopes; scrublands; woodland and forest openings.   Moist woodlands and rocky slopes.
 Plant Communities:Desert Scrub, Interior Chaparral, Semidesert Grasslands, Pinyon Juniper Woodland, Montane Conifer Forest, Riparian
 Elevation: 3200 - 9500 feet
 
 
 
 
 Desc: 
		Erect, loosely tufted, 2 to 4 feet tall, rhizomes absent.
 Identification Notes: Sheaths retrorsely (directed downward or backward) pilose (bearing long, soft, straight hairs); lemmas usually evenly pubescent (short, soft hairs) on the back. Seedhead with stiff, erect or ascending branches; awns usually less than 1/4 inch long.
 Grass Type: Perennial bunchgrass  Rhizomes: N  Stolons: N
 Large Dense Clump (> 2 feet): N  Bushy (highly branched): N
 Height with Seedheads: Greater than 36 inches
 Seedhead Structure: Branched - open and spreading  Seedhead Droops: Y
 Flowering Period: Mar - Jun
 
 
 Number of Flowers per Spikelet: Multi-flowered  Spikelets One-sided: N
 Awns: Less than 1/4 inch   Three Awns: N  Awns Bent: N
 Flower and Seedhead Notes: Seedhead erect and rather narrow to 8 inches long. Spikelets 1 to 2 inches long, 4 to 9 flowered, strongly laterally compressed. Glumes are unequal.
 
 
 Blade Hairy: 
		 Y           
		 Blade with White Margins: 
		 N           
		 Blade Cross section: 
		 Flat or involute         
		 Blade Notes: 
		 Blades 1/8 to 5/16 inches wide, 3 to 10 inches long, can be without hairs, with sparse long soft straight hairs, or covered with short soft hairs, on 1 or both surfaces. Sheaths are closed for most of their length.		 
		 Sheath Hairy: 
		 Y           
		 Tuft of Hairs at top of Sheath or Collar: 
		 Y            
     	  Ligules: 
          Membranous
 Auricles (Ear-like lobes at collar area: 
          N
 
 Forage Value: 
          Important forage grass for domestic livestock, elk and deer.
 
 
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