Grass Description
Found in deserts, grasslands, pinyon juniper and rocky hills.
General Description
Coarse tufted perennial grass up to 3 feet tall with a hard rhizomatous base. Stems trailing, spreading and branching at the base, becoming erect or ascending. Often appears as tufts or small clumps of stems from the rhizomes.
Rhizomatous perennial with stout woody, wooly stems and rigid seedhead spikes. P. rigida is easily distinguished from other Pleuraphis spp. in the region by its felty-pubescent lower stems and sheaths.
Flower Characteristics
Seedhead is a rigid spike with groups of 3 directly attached awned spikelets. The 3 spikelets fall as a unit and leave a characteristic zig-zag naked seed stalk. Each spikelet has 2 to 4 florets; upper florets are sterile, lower florets are fertile.
Vegetative Characteristics
Leaf blades are 3/4 to 4 inches long, less than 1/5 inch wide, flat at the base and involute above, with the tip tapering to a rigid point. Leaves are generally sparsely to densely covered with downy hairs, especially near the ligule.
Fair to poor; if like other grasses in this genus it is very tough and wiry when mature.