Scientific Family
Poaceae
Plant type
Grasses
Riparian
No
Grass Description
Origin
Native
Season
Warm
Openings and meadows in pinyon-juniper woodlands and ponderosa pine forests in dry soil.
Plant Community
Pinyon Juniper Woodlands
Montane Conifer Forest
Low elevation
5000
High elevation
7500
Similar species
Blepharoneuron tricholepis
General Description
Dense, erect, perennial bunchgrass with stems up to 28 inches tall, leaves crowed at the base, short rhizomes. Dark golden color when cured.
Tufted, erect, perennial, unbranched stems. Short rhizomes. Ligules densely hairy. Seedhead well exerted from sheath, branches appressed or spreading. Spikelets grayish, 1/4 inch long; unequal glumes. Seeds larger than Blepharoneuron tricholepis.
Grass type
Perennial bunchgrass
Rhizomes
Yes
Stolons
No
Clump Diameter 2 ft or more
No
Bushy - highly branched
No
Height with Seedheads
12 inches or more
Seedhead Structure
Branched - contracted
Seedhead droops
No
First bloom month
July
Last bloom month
September
Flower Characteristics
Flowers per Spikelet
One-flowered
Spikelets One-Sided
No
Awns
Absent
Three Awns
No
Awns bent
No
Flower and Seedhead Notes
Seedhead 2 to 8 inches long, narrowly pyramidal, open to somewhat contracted, bluish green or brownish gray at maturity. Second glume as long as the spikelet.
Vegetative Characteristics
Blade is hairy
Yes
Blade margins white
No
Blade cross-section
Flat
Folded
Blades mostly basal, 3 to 16 inches long, less than 1/4 inch wide, often thinly covered with long soft hairs.
Sheath is hairy
Yes
Tufts of hair top of sheath or collar
No
Ligule
Membranous and hairy
Auricles
No
Very good.