Scientific Family
Poaceae
Synonyms
Aristida fasciculata
Plant type
Grasses
Riparian
Yes
Grass Description
Origin
Native
Season
Cool
Warm
Open, dry ground, plains and washes, along open stream courses, sometimes weedy on waste ground, along roadsides, and on degraded rangelands and dry hillsides, often in sandy soils. It is associated with woodland, prairie, and desert shrub communities.
Plant Community
Riparian
Pinyon Juniper Woodlands
Interior Chaparral
Grasslands
Disturbed Areas
Desert Scrub
Low elevation
0
High elevation
6000
Similar species
Aristida parishii
General Description
A fine-leaved short to long-lived annual, extremely variable in size, 3 to 30 inches tall, depending largely on available moisture. The several stems are attached at the base of the plant and are usually wide spreading. Seedheads are long and narrow.
Annual, often much branched at the base; seedhead narrow; three awns, awn 1/2 to 3/4 inch long, flattened at the base. Lateral awns somewhat shorter than the central one. Lemma not articulate (jointed) with the base of the awn.
Grass type
Annual
Rhizomes
No
Stolons
No
Clump Diameter 2 ft or more
No
Bushy - highly branched
No
Height with Seedheads
12 inches or more
Seedhead Structure
Branched - contracted
Seedhead droops
No
First bloom month
April
Last bloom month
October
Flower Characteristics
Flowers per Spikelet
One-flowered
Spikelets One-Sided
No
Awns
1/4 inch to 1 inch
Three Awns
Yes
Awns bent
Yes
Flower and Seedhead Notes
Seedhead stems often highly branched. Seedheads long and narrow, consisting of many slender branches, erect against the central stem. Spikelets crowded. Three 1/2 inch-long awns diverge from the apex of the elongated lemma. Lateral awns somewhat shorter.
Vegetative Characteristics
Blade is hairy
No
Blade margins white
No
Blade cross-section
Flat
Involute – rolled inward on upper surface
Blades 3/4 to 6 inches long, <1/8 inch wide, flat to inward rolled. Glandular hairs at base of blades.
Sheath is hairy
No
Tufts of hair top of sheath or collar
Yes
Ligule
Hairy
Auricles
No
Poor. Palatability is low.