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Hilaria belangeri - curly-mesquite

Scientific Family
Poaceae
Synonyms
Andropogon contortus, Hilaria texana, Hilaria cenchroides var. texana
Other common names
curleymesquite
Plant type
Grasses
Riparian
No

Grass Description

Origin
Native
Season
Cool
Warm

Rocky slopes, dry hillsides and sandy plains.

Plant Community
Desert Scrub
Grasslands
Interior Chaparral
Pinyon Juniper Woodlands
Low elevation
3000
High elevation
6000

General Description

A short leaved sodgrass; up to 1 foot tall with seedheads; stolons root at nodes. Light green, when fresh, golden when dry.

Stoloniferous; curly mass of short flat blades; seedhead 4 to 12 inches tall, 4 to 8 groups of 3 spikelets, two outer florets 2-flowered and staminate, center spikelet staminate and pistillate. Seedhead has zigzag pattern when spikelets fall.

Grass type
Perennial mat or sod-forming
Rhizomes
No
Stolons
Yes
Clump Diameter 2 ft or more
No
Bushy - highly branched
No
Height with Seedheads
Less than 12 inches
Seedhead Structure
Unbranched
Seedhead droops
No
First bloom month
March
Last bloom month
October

Flower Characteristics

Flowers per Spikelet
Multi-flowered
Spikelets One-Sided
No
Awns
Less than 1/4 inch
Three Awns
No
Awns bent
No
Flower and Seedhead Notes

Seedheads rarely over 8 inches tall, consist of groups of papery 3-spikelet clusters that fall at maturity, leaving a zigzag stalk. Mid-nerves of the glumes extend into awns.

Vegetative Characteristics

Blade is hairy
Yes
Blade margins white
No
Blade cross-section
Flat

Flat, very fine, 3 to 5 inches long to 1/16 inch wide, becoming tightly curled as they cure, above surfaces sparsely soft-hairy, hairs nipple-like based, margins sparsely soft-hairy basally, with similar hairs.

Sheath is hairy
No
Tufts of hair top of sheath or collar
No
Ligule
Membranous
Auricles
No

Curly-mesquite is grazed all year by horses, cattle, sheep, goats, antelope, and deer.