Scientific Family
Poaceae
Plant type
Grasses
Riparian
No
Grass Description
Origin
Native
Season
Cool
Warm
Grows in dry, open areas and disturbed ground below 6500.
Plant Community
Pinyon Juniper Woodlands
Montane Conifer Forest
Interior Chaparral
Grasslands
Disturbed Areas
Desert Scrub
Low elevation
1000
High elevation
6500
Similar species
B. carinatus, B. marginatus
General Description
Annual grass growing over 3 feet tall with open, branching seedheads. The spikelets are flat and hairy and have awns up to 1/2 inch long.
Spikelets are definitely flattened; the second glume is nearly equal to the lowest floret; lemmas are keeled, hairy on their margins and have awns of 1/4 to 1/2 inch long.
Grass type
Annual
Rhizomes
No
Stolons
No
Clump Diameter 2 ft or more
No
Bushy - highly branched
No
Height with Seedheads
24 inches or more
Seedhead Structure
Branched - contracted
Seedhead droops
No
First bloom month
March
Last bloom month
October
Flower Characteristics
Flowers per Spikelet
Multi-flowered
Spikelets One-Sided
No
Awns
1/4 inch to 1 inch
Three Awns
No
Awns bent
No
Flower and Seedhead Notes
Spikelets 3/4 to 1 inch, elliptic to lanceolate, strongly laterally compressed, with 4–8 florets. Seedheads are 1 to 3 feet tall, 1/8 inch thick, often lying along the ground with the extremity curving upward. Flowers mostly March to June.
Vegetative Characteristics
Blade is hairy
No
Blade margins white
Yes
Blade cross-section
Flat
Blades 3 to 6 inches long, 1/8 to 1/2 inch wide, flat, sparsely with soft hairs on both surfaces, sometimes the lower side is smooth.
Sheath is hairy
Yes
Tufts of hair top of sheath or collar
No
Ligule
Hairy
Auricles
No
No information found.