Grass Description
Oak and juniper woodlands, pine forests, mountain meadows.
General Description
Often grows in a columnar bunch. Seedhead is tightly contracted to stem. Foliage is a distinct bronze-orange color when it cures in late summer or early fall. Rhizomes are absent or very short.
An erect bunchgrass; flat bluish basal shoots in the spring; plants turn to a reddish color after frost. The Inflorescence has paired spikelets at each node, one sessile, the other pedicellate, the flowering stems are white-ciliate (haired).
Flower Characteristics
Seedhead is a single stem with some stalked and some sessile spikelets. Main axis and branches are strongly hairy.
Vegetative Characteristics
Blade flat or folded, 3 to 18 inches long, less than 1/4 inch wide, smooth or hairy.
Good while immature for all classes of livestock; after mature, fair for cattle and horses, but too coarse for sheep or goats. Seed is eaten by songbirds and upland gamebirds. The plant provides cover for ground birds and small mammals.