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Plant - summer
Chino Valley - N Reed Rd Sue Smith | Seedhead - mature
Chino Valley - N Reed Rd John Kava | Grazed with seedhead stems
Chino Valley - N Reed Rd John Kava | Spikelet
Chino Valley - N Reed Rd Sue Smith | Seedhead
Chino Valley - N Reed Rd Sue Smith | Hairy internode
Chino Valley - N Reed Rd Sue Smith | | | | | |
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Origin: Native Season: Warm
Habitat Description: Thrives best in open grasslands on dry, gravelly or sandy soils. Grows in dry plains, foothills, and open forested slopes, often in shrubby habitats, and also in waste ground.
Plant Communities: Interior Chaparral, Semidesert Grasslands, Pinyon Juniper Woodland, Disturbed Areas
Elevation: 3000 - 5500 feet
Similar Species: Bouteloua gracilis, Bouteloua hirsuta
Desc: Sprawling, wiry, thin, weak stems covered with fine hairs. Stems are bent and spreading, lower internodes are densely hairy. Seedheads have 4 to 5 comb-like branches. Stoloniferous and often rhizomatous. Frequently grows in almost pure stands.
Identification notes: Tufted perennial with hard crown, wiry stolons, hairy-felty, trailing, mostly basal stems. Leaves small, sheaths shorter than internodes, one to many short, 1-sided spikes. Lemma bearded at base tapering to a terminal awn <3 mm and 2 smaller lateral awns.
Grass Type: Perennial mat or sod-forming Rhizomes: Y Stolons: Y
Large Dense Clump (> 2 feet): N Bushy (highly branched): Y
Height with Seedheads: 12 to 24 inches
Seedhead Structure: Branched - comblike branches Seedhead Droops: N
Flowering Period: Jul - Oct
Number of Flowers per Spikelet: Multi-flowered Spikelets One-sided: N
Awns: Less than 1/4 inch Three Awns: Y Awns Bent: N
Flower and Seedhead Notes: Seedheads 3/4 to 6 inches long, with 3 to 8 primary branches. Fertile lemma is bearded at base, tapering to a stout terminal awn <1/8 inch long and reduced lateral awns. Sterile floret is reduced to a lemma with 3 long awns <1/2 inch long.
Blade Hairy: Y Blade with White Margin: N Blade Cross Section: Flat or involute
Blade Notes: Blades 3/4 to 3 inches long and <1/8 inch wide, flat or involute and twisted at the tips. Upper leaf surfaces are hairy.
Sheath Hairy: Y Tuft of Hairs Top of Sheath or Collar: Y Ligules: Hairy
Auricles (Ear-like lobes at base of blades): N
Vegetative Notes: Sheaths mostly smooth without hairs or sparsely soft-hairy, usually soft-hairy near the ligules. Ligules <1/16 inch, a fringe of hairs.
Forage Value: Black grama is considered excellent forage for all livestock classes and wildlife.
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