Scientific Family
Poaceae
Other common names
Parish alkaligrass
Parish's alkali grass
Plant type
Grasses
Riparian
Yes
Grass Description
Origin
Native
Season
Cool
Marshes.
Plant Community
Riparian
Low elevation
5000
High elevation
6000
General Description
Tufted annual with erect stems and very narrow, firm leaves around the base.
Annual; one to many stems; blades short; seedheads 1 to 6 inches tall, narrow with erect-appressed branches; lemmas membranous with obtuse to truncate apices, smooth between veins and densely hairy over the veins.
Grass type
Annual
Rhizomes
No
Stolons
No
Clump Diameter 2 ft or more
No
Bushy - highly branched
No
Height with Seedheads
Less than 12 inches
Seedhead Structure
Branched - contracted
Seedhead droops
No
First bloom month
May
Last bloom month
June
Flower Characteristics
Flowers per Spikelet
Multi-flowered
Spikelets One-Sided
No
Awns
Absent
Three Awns
No
Awns bent
No
Flower and Seedhead Notes
Seedhead narrow, few flowers, branches erect-appressed; spikelets 1/4 inch long; glumes shorter than the first floret, broad and straight; florets 4 to 6 per spikelet; lemmas about 1/16 inch long.
Vegetative Characteristics
Blade is hairy
Yes
Blade margins white
No
Blade cross-section
Flat
Involute – rolled inward on upper surface
Leaf blades short, 1/16 inch wide, flat and or involute.
Sheath is hairy
No
Tufts of hair top of sheath or collar
No
Ligule
Absent
Auricles
No
Unknown.