Grass Description
Weed of moist disturbed soils below 9,000 ft.
General Description
Grass clumps are loose tufts of erect stems that branch and spread from the base. Plant surfaces may be smooth or hairy.
Spikelets arranged in a bilateral spike, 3 spikelets per node, central with a fertile floret, lateral spikelets staminate; lemmas of the central florets subequal to those of the lateral florets; lateral lemmas with awns 1/8 to 1/2 inch long.
Flower Characteristics
Seedhead spikes are green, turning purplish just before maturity. Seedhead stems are erect and often partly enclosed in the inflated upper sheath. Spikelets 3 per node, sessile or sub-sessile, central with a fertile floret, lateral spikelets staminate.
Vegetative Characteristics
Leaves are flat, occasionally with involute margins, without hairs or sometimes sparsely hairy, sometimes rough to the touch, blue-green, or gray, or with white glands.
This grass provides palatable early forage for stock and wildlife but also causes serious injury to animals once the seedheads dry and harden.