Scientific Family
Poaceae
Synonyms
Chondrosum procumbens, Chondrosum prostratum, Chondrosum simplex
Plant type
Grasses
Riparian
No
Grass Description
Origin
Native
Season
Warm
Found on rocky, open slopes in grassy and open woodland shrub vegetation.
Plant Community
Pinyon Juniper Woodlands
Montane Conifer Forest
Interior Chaparral
Grasslands
Low elevation
4000
High elevation
8000
General Description
Multiple stemmed annual, stems trailing or erect and unbranched. Seedheads of 1 branch of one-sided spikelets.
Annual with trailing or erect unbranched stems. Sheath smooth, ligule membranous or short-hairy. Leaves short, flat to involute. Seedhead usually a single branch of one-sided spikelets, each spikelet having 1 fertile and 1 to 2 sterile 3-awned floret.
Grass type
Annual
Rhizomes
No
Stolons
No
Clump Diameter 2 ft or more
No
Bushy - highly branched
No
Height with Seedheads
Less than 12 inches
Seedhead Structure
Branched - comblike
Seedhead droops
No
First bloom month
August
Last bloom month
September
Flower Characteristics
Flowers per Spikelet
Multi-flowered
Spikelets One-Sided
Yes
Awns
Less than 1/4 inch
Three Awns
Yes
Awns bent
No
Flower and Seedhead Notes
Seedhead usually has one curved branch of 20 to 30 spikelets. Spikelets are one-sided with 1 bisexual floret and 1 to 2 sterile florets. Fertile lemmas are hairy at bases and 3-awned with stout flattened awns.
Vegetative Characteristics
Blade is hairy
Yes
Blade margins white
No
Blade cross-section
Flat
Involute – rolled inward on upper surface
Leaves are 3/4 to 3-1/4 inches long and <1/16 inch wide, flat to rolled inward. Top surfaces are mostly smooth, often soft hairy at the bases.
Sheath is hairy
No
Tufts of hair top of sheath or collar
Yes
Ligule
Membranous and hairy
Auricles
No
Good when green and growing. Overall forage value to livestock and wildlife is very low because this is a small, short-lived annual grass.