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- Arizona State University Vascular Plant Herbarium, Usage Rights: Non-Commercial (CC BY-NC)


Yavapai County Native & Naturalized Plants

Achnatherum lemmonii - Lemmon's needlegrass

Synonyms: Stipa lemmonii
Other Common Names: Lemmon's stipa
Plant Form: Grass

Family: Poaceae


   
 
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Spikelets
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Hitchcock, A.S. (rev. A. Chase). 1950. Manual of the grasses of the United States. USDA Miscellaneous Publication No. 200. Washington, DC.
  Grass Description -   Glossary of Grass Terminology


Origin: Native    Season: Cool
Habitat Description: Dry sunny slopes, grasslands, savannas, openings within pine woodlands and upland prairies.
Plant Communities:Desert Scrub, Interior Chaparral, Semidesert Grasslands, Pinyon Juniper Woodland, Montane Conifer Forest
Elevation: Below 7500 feet


General Description

Desc: Densely tufted grass, spreading to upright, with seedhead stems that are 8 to 30 inches high. Leaf blades are often blue-green in color. The seedhead is pale or purplish in color.
Identification Notes: Spikelets are narrow, branches appressed; awns are usually less than 1 inch long, somewhat twice-bent and straight at their terminal; lemma apex hairs are longer than other lemma hairs; blades are narrow, 2 to 8 inches long and in-rolled and form a tuft.
Grass Type: Perennial bunchgrass  Rhizomes: N  Stolons: N
Large Dense Clump (> 2 feet): N  Bushy (highly branched): Y
Height with Seedheads: 24 to 36 inches
Seedhead Structure: Branched - contracted  Seedhead Droops: N
Flowering Period: May - Jun
Flower Characteristics

Number of Flowers per Spikelet: One-flowered  Spikelets One-sided: N
Awns: 1/4 inch to 1 inch   Three Awns: N  Awns Bent: Y
Flower and Seedhead Notes: The seedhead is spike-like and narrow, 2-1/2 to 8-1/2 inches long and about 1/2 inch wide.
Vegetative Charcteristics

Blade Hairy: Y    Blade with White Margins: N    Blade Cross section: Flat or folded
Blade Notes: Basal blades are less than 1/16 inch wide, folded to rolled, bottom surfaces smooth, hairless, top surfaces prominently ribbed, often with very short hairs, sometimes hairless; upper blades are to 1/8 inch wide, otherwise similar to the basal blades.
Sheath Hairy: Y    Tuft of Hairs at top of Sheath or Collar: Y    Ligules: Membranous
Auricles (Ear-like lobes at collar area: N

Forage Value: Has good palatability for deer, sheep and cattle.


  Arizona Cooperative Extension
Yavapai County
840 Rodeo Dr #C
Prescott, AZ 86305
(928) 445-6590
Version 8.0  
http://cales.arizona.edu/yavapaiplants/SpeciesDetailGrass.php  
Last Updated: Dec 13, 2022
Content Questions/Comments: Email Matt Halldorson  
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