Scientific Family
Poaceae
Synonyms
Andropogon contortus
Plant type
Grasses
Riparian
No
Grass Description
Origin
Native
Season
Warm
Sandy hills and in rocky canyons. Considered a weed, being able to establish itself in newly disturbed and poor soils.
Plant Community
Pinyon Juniper Woodlands
Interior Chaparral
Grasslands
Disturbed Areas
Low elevation
1000
High elevation
5500
General Description
Tall perennial usually branching well above the base, often a few long hairs at the leaf collar. Unique seedhead with long wiry twisted, tangled and bent awns.
A coarse, perennial bunchgrass; bright green, curing to a distinctive orange-brown. Blades broad creased down the middle, and clasping the flattened stem at the base. Seedheads spikelike; firm rounded glumes. Seeds sharp pointed with a long, coarse awn.
Grass type
Perennial bunchgrass
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
June
Last bloom month
September
Flower Characteristics
Flowers per Spikelet
One-flowered
Spikelets One-Sided
No
Awns
Greater than 1 inch
Three Awns
No
Awns bent
Yes
Flower and Seedhead Notes
Seedhead stems brown to reddish-brown with 12 to 22 brown to reddish brown sessile and stemmed spikelet pairs. Spikelets have awnless staminate and awned pistillate spikelets. Awns are 2 to 5 inches long, bent and flexuous and frequently tangled.
Vegetative Characteristics
Blade is hairy
Yes
Blade margins white
No
Blade cross-section
Flat
Blades flat 2 to 8 inches long 1/8 to 1/4 inch wide, midvein prominent, usually hairy on margins and rough.
Sheath is hairy
No
Tufts of hair top of sheath or collar
Yes
Ligule
Membranous and hairy
Auricles
No
Fair to good for cattle and horses before maturity. A valuable forage grass if continuously grazed so as to prevent the hardened tissue from developing.