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 Seedhead Iron King TrSue Smith |  Spikelets Iron King TrSue Smith |  Ligule and hairs Iron King TrSue Smith | | | |
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Origin: Native Season: Warm
Habitat Description: Rocky ridges, margins of fields, plains and open ground.
Plant Communities:Desert Scrub, Interior Chaparral, Semidesert Grasslands, Pinyon Juniper Woodland, Disturbed Areas
Elevation: 1000 - 6000 feet
Desc:
Tall, 1 to 4 feet, with rather hard round stems sometimes bent abruptly, like a knee. Seedhead looks cottony when mature, before seeds fall.
Identification Notes: Tufted perennial stems 16 to 39 inches tall erect from a swollen, knotty base; basal sheaths long soft hairs; collar hairy; contracted, branched seedhead; second glume narrow and densely hairy with soft white silky hairs tinged with purple.
Grass Type: Perennial bunchgrass Rhizomes: N 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: Jul - Nov
Number of Flowers per Spikelet: Multi-flowered Spikelets One-sided: N
Awns: Absent Three Awns: N Awns Bent: N
Flower and Seedhead Notes: Dense slender seedheads 2 to 6 inches long with spikelets which have silky, long, whitish or purplish tinged hairs.
Blade Hairy:
Y
Blade with White Margins:
Y
Blade Cross section:
Flat or folded
Blade Notes:
Blades 3/4 to 4-3/4 inches long, 1/16 to 1/2 inch wide, do not clasp the stem firmly but pull away, exposing a smooth purple to green internode.
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:
Good.
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