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Lycurus setosus - bristly wolfstail

Scientific Family
Poaceae
Synonyms
Lycurus phleoides var. glaucifolius, Muhlenbergia alopecuroides, Pleopogon setosus
Other common names
common wolfstail
wolftail,
Plant type
Grasses
Riparian
No

Grass Description

Origin
Native
Season
Warm

Dry slopes, plains and woodlands, rocky slopes and open mesas.

Plant Community
Desert Scrub
Interior Chaparral
Montane Conifer Forest
Pinyon Juniper Woodlands
Grasslands
Low elevation
2000
High elevation
10000

General Description

Erect small bunchgrass, stems often branched at nodes, blades usually folded.

Densely tufted perennial, leaves mostly basal. Blades flat or folded with prominent white mid-ribs, sharp tipped. Ligule membranous and pointed. Seedhead spike-like, cylindrical and bristly. Spikelets paired and fall together, each has one awned floret.

Grass type
Perennial bunchgrass
Rhizomes
No
Stolons
No
Clump Diameter 2 ft or more
No
Bushy - highly branched
No
Height with Seedheads
12 inches or more
Seedhead Structure
Unbranched
Seedhead droops
No
First bloom month
July
Last bloom month
October

Flower Characteristics

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

Dense cylindrical spike, 1/4 inch in diameter, 2 to 3 inches long. First glume has 2 to 3 awns. Floret is awned and hairy.

Vegetative Characteristics

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

Blades 2 to 4 inches long, < 1/16 inch wide, without hairs, smooth or slightly rough below, slightly rough or with rather long stiff hairs above, with prominent whitish midribs and scabrous margins, midribs extending as hair-like bristle.

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

Good to very good forage with moderate to high livestock palatability.