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Arizona
Range Grasses Back to the Table of Contents
Growth habit: Coarse perennial bunchgrass 2 to
4 feet tall.
Occurrence At elevations of 1,000 to 5,800 feet in all counties in
the state except Apache and Mohave. It is particularly abundant along
graded roadsides and banks of washes or other places where the soil
has been exposed. It is also common on dry, rocky or sandy slopes. On
open rangeland it occurs principally in areas of water concentration. Forage Value Because the grass is coarse and the nutrients tend to
leach out after the plants are dry, cane beardgrass is generally rated
as only fair forage. During the summer when the plants are actively
growing they are grazed readily, particularly by cattle and horses.
Cane beardgrass is most productive when grazed during the summer when the plants are actively growing. It may be grazed during the fall and winter but the forage is of a poorer quality at that time. When grazed during the summer, some seed stalks should remain ungrazed and occasional summer deferment allowed. *Silver beardgrass (Bothriochloa laguroides subsp torreyana) is essentially identical with cane beardgrass. All of the information given above applies also to silver beardgrass.
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Cooperative
Extension,College of Agriculture & Life Sciences, The University of
Arizona