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 Flowers Patrick Alexander @http://swbiodiversity.org, Usage Rights: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) |  Spikelets Patrick Alexander @http://swbiodiversity.org, Usage Rights: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) | | | | |
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Origin: Native Season: Warm
Habitat Description: Alkaline or saline soils in meadows and valleys, sandy soils of desert foothills or roadsides, and dry gravely slopes.
Plant Communities:Interior Chaparral, Semidesert Grasslands, Pinyon Juniper Woodland
Elevation: 2500 - 6500 feet
Desc:
A robust bunchgrass, often with stems bent outward (decumbent) at the base; forms large, tough clumps; coarse, glossy roots, and culms(stems) which appear to be solid, especially near the base. Reproduction is by seeds and by tillers.
Identification Notes: Large, tough clumps 1-1/2 to 3 feet tall, open inflorescences with pedicels(spikelet stems) less than 5mm long, upper glumes at least 2/3 as long as the florets, sheath apices smooth with a few scattered hairs.
Grass Type: Perennial bunchgrass Rhizomes: N Stolons: N
Large Dense Clump (> 2 feet): Y Bushy (highly branched): N
Height with Seedheads: 24 to 36 inches
Seedhead Structure: Branched - open and spreading Seedhead Droops: N
Flowering Period: Jun - Oct
Number of Flowers per Spikelet: One-flowered Spikelets One-sided: N
Awns: Absent Three Awns: N Awns Bent: N
Flower and Seedhead Notes: Loose and open, with widely spreading branches, half or more of the height of the plant which is 20 to 40 inches tall. Lemms 1-nerved. Appears to be one-flowered, 2nd flower is infertile.
Blade Hairy:
U
Blade with White Margins:
U
Blade Cross section:
Flat or involute
Blade Notes:
Frequently minute salt crystal can be seen with a hands lens. Blades firm and fibrous, less than 1/16 inch wide, tapering to a fine tip, midrib is prominent.
Sheath Hairy:
Y
Tuft of Hairs at top of Sheath or Collar:
Y
Ligules:
Hairy
Auricles (Ear-like lobes at collar area:
N
Forage Value:
Fair to good for large grazing animals, poor when dry.
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