Scientific Family
Poaceae
Synonyms
Diarrhena setacea, Festuca octoflora, Festuca parviflora, Festuca setacea
Other common names
pullout grass
sixweeks grass
Plant type
Grasses
Riparian
No
Grass Description
Origin
Native
Season
Cool
Warm
Sandy or rocky soils in open sites. Grasslands, sagebrush, open woodland and disturbed areas.
Plant Community
Pinyon Juniper Woodlands
Interior Chaparral
Grasslands
Disturbed Areas
Desert Scrub
Low elevation
2000
High elevation
5600
General Description
Slender, decumbent to erect annual with a few ascending or rarely spreading branches. Seedheads are solitary or in small tufts. Stem nodes are swollen and/or brittle. Fibrous root system. Often less than 12 inches tall.
Annual; spikelets mostly 5-flowered; awns less than 1/2 inch long, 2 to 12 inches tall.
Grass type
Annual
Rhizomes
No
Stolons
No
Clump Diameter 2 ft or more
Yes
Bushy - highly branched
Yes
Height with Seedheads
12 inches or more
Seedhead Structure
Branched - contracted
Seedhead droops
No
First bloom month
May
Last bloom month
July
Flower Characteristics
Flowers per Spikelet
Multi-flowered
Spikelets One-Sided
No
Awns
Less than 1/4 inch
Three Awns
No
Awns bent
No
Flower and Seedhead Notes
Compressed spikelets have 6 or more flowers.
Vegetative Characteristics
Blade is hairy
Yes
Blade margins white
No
Blade cross-section
Flat
Involute – rolled inward on upper surface
Short, linear leaves are flat or involute and have parallel venation.
Sheath is hairy
No
Tufts of hair top of sheath or collar
No
Ligule
Membranous
Auricles
No
Supplies browse for six weeks after a rain before it dries.