Grass Description
Found on sandy soils of dry plains, slopes, and washes, rocky slopes and limestone ridges, in desert scrub, pinyon-juniper woodlands, pine forests and desert grasslands.
General Description
Erect, tufted perennial grass with round, unbranched stem, 2 to 4 feet tall, depending upon precipitation. Main characteristic is the conspicuous tuft of long white hairs at the leaf collar.
Tufted erect perennial, stems sometimes bent at base. Collar and ligule hairy. Sheath often hairy on the margins. Seedhead partially included in sheath, initially contracted, open at maturity, pyramidal, densely flowered. Spikelets one flowered, unawned.
Flower Characteristics
Seedhead 6 to 20 inches long and 1/2 to 4-1/2 inches wide, partially or totally enclosed on one side by the upper sheath. Upper branches are spikelet bearing to the bases.
Vegetative Characteristics
Blades often at near right angle to stem. 3 to 10 inches long, 1/4 inch wide, flat or folded. May be rolled inward when dry.
Fair to good for livestock and poor for wildlife while actively growing, declines rapidly with maturity.