Plant Image
Plant - summer
Buckboard Rd


Yavapai County Native & Naturalized Plants

Scleropogon brevifolius - burrograss

Synonyms: Scleropogon longisetus
Plant Form: Grass

Family: Poaceae


   
 
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Female plant
Buckboard Rd
John Kava
Plant - summer
Buckboard Rd
John Kava
Male plant
Buckboard Rd
John Kava
Stolon
Buckboard Rd
John Kava
  Grass Description -   Glossary of Grass Terminology


Origin: Native    Season: Cool and Warm
Habitat Description: Grassy flats, dry valleys and open mesas. Most abundant in overgrazed areas.
Plant Communities:Desert Scrub, Interior Chaparral, Semidesert Grasslands, Pinyon Juniper Woodland, Disturbed Areas
Elevation: Below 5500 feet


General Description

Desc: A wiry low growing, light green grass of stiff, short blades, which forms dense colonies connected by creeping stems. Slender contracted seedheads having 2 to 4 inch awns.
Identification Notes: Densely tufted perennial, wiry stolons. Leaves mostly basal, flat or folded. Sheath has noticeable veins. Ligule short, hairy. Seedheads numerous, spikelets of 5 to 10 florets, glumes exceed first floret. Lemmas have twisted awns up to 4 inches long.
Grass Type: Perennial mat or sod-forming  Rhizomes: N  Stolons: Y
Large Dense Clump (> 2 feet): N  Bushy (highly branched): N
Height with Seedheads: Less than 12 inches
Seedhead Structure: Branched - contracted  Seedhead Droops: N
Flowering Period: May - Oct
Flower Characteristics

Number of Flowers per Spikelet: Multi-flowered  Spikelets One-sided: N
Awns: Greater than 1 inch   Three Awns: Y  Awns Bent: Y
Flower and Seedhead Notes: Slender few seeded seedheads of long-awned female spikelets and awnless male spikelets mostly on separate plants. Male spikelets 5 to 10 flowered, female spikelets 3 to 5 flowered. Female lemma end in 3 twisted awns 2 to 4 inches long.
Vegetative Charcteristics

Blade Hairy: Y    Blade with White Margins: N    Blade Cross section: Flat or folded
Blade Notes: Blades flat or folded, 3/4 to 3 inches long, thin and crowded at the base, stiff. Leaves are often hairy 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: Little forage value partly due to long wiry awns and partly due to harsh, stiff leaves.


  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  
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