Origin: Introduced   Season: Cool and Warm Habitat Description: Open disturbed areas and along fields. Plant Communities:Disturbed Areas Elevation: 1000 - 4000 feet
General Description
Desc:
Seedhead stems are wiry almost woody, mostly 32 to 40 inches tall with a branching, open seedhead, the branches spreading or ascending, and densely flowered from the base to the tip. Identification Notes: Rhizomes. Seedhead stems branching from swollen nodes and above the middle; spikelets densely clustered 1/8 inch long or less; first glume half as long as the spikelet or less. Spikelets unawned with 2 florets, the first floret sterile or staminate. Grass Type: Perennial bunchgrass Rhizomes: Y Stolons: N Large Dense Clump (> 2 feet): Y Bushy (highly branched): Y Height with Seedheads: Greater than 36 inches Seedhead Structure: Branched - open and spreading Seedhead Droops: N Flowering Period: Apr - Oct Flower Characteristics
Number of Flowers per Spikelet: Multi-flowered Spikelets One-sided: N Awns: Absent Three Awns: U Awns Bent: U Flower and Seedhead Notes: 1 to 2 spikelets per node, unawned with 2 florets, the first floret sterile or staminate. Sterile lemma hairless, fertile lemma smooth and shining, about 1/16 inch long.
Vegetative Charcteristics
Blade Hairy:
Y
Blade with White Margins:
N
Blade Cross section:
Flat
Blade Notes:
Blades are 4 to 24 inches long, 1/8 to 3/4 inch wide, elongate with lower surfaces and margins rough to the touch, upper surfaces occasionally with soft hairs near the base.
Sheath Hairy:
N
Tuft of Hairs at top of Sheath or Collar:
N
Ligules:
Membranous and hairy Auricles (Ear-like lobes at collar area:
N
Forage Value:
Good grazing for wildlife and livestock.
Arizona Cooperative Extension
Yavapai County
840 Rodeo Dr #C
Prescott, AZ 86305
(928) 445-6590