Transcript 10 Common Grasses and Grass-Like Plants

25 Major Rangeland Plants
Grasses and Grass-like Plants
By Karen Launchbaugh
Grass Morphology
Spike
Panicle
Most grasses a have Spike or Panicle inflorescence
Sodgrass vs Bunchgrass
Sodgrass
Bunchgrass
Sodgrass
Rhizomes are below-ground modified stems that give rise to new plants.
Solons are above-ground modified stems that give rise to new plants.
www.usu.edu/weeds/
Major Grasses & Grass-likes
For Rangeland Principles Course
Type
Grass
Grass
Grass
Grass
Grass
Grass
Grass
Grass
Name
Big Bluestem
Blue Grama
Bluebunch Wheatgrass
Buffalograss
Cheatgrass (or Downy Brome)
Crested Wheatgrass
Idaho Fescue
Tobosa grass
Longevity
Perennial
Perennial
Perennial
Perennial
Annual
Perennial
Perennial
Perennial
Origin
Native
Native
Native
Native
Introduced
Introduced
Native
Native
Grass-like
Grass-like
Baltic Rush
Nebraska Sedge
Perennial
Perennial
Native
Native
Big Bluestem
• Perennial
• Native
Seedhead with 3-major
“finger-like” branches
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.
University of Idaho Stillinger Herbarium
(http://www.pnwherbaria.org)
Can have thick
scaly rhizomes
Big Bluestem
• Warm Season
• Tallgrass Prairie Dominant
Turns red at maturity
Tall grass 1.5 feet to 8 feet
Mike Haddock
K. Launchbaugh
Blue Grama
• Perennial
• Native
Eyebrow-like
inflorescence
Usually 2 branches per
seedhead
Forms thick
sod – mostly
basal leaves
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.
University of Idaho Stillinger Herbarium
(http://www.pnwherbaria.org)
Blue Grama
•Warm Season
• Shortgrass Prairie Dominant
Mike Haddock
True shortgrass
6 to 20 inches tall
Robert Soreng
Bluebunch Wheatgrass
• Perennial
• Native
Seeds have
awns; bend
outward as the
seed head dries.
Spike Seedhead
University of Idaho Stillinger Herbarium
(http://www.pnwherbaria.org)
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.
Bluebunch Wheatgrass
•Cool season
• Pacific & Intermountain
Bunchgrass Regions
Jennifer Peterson
Jennifer Peterson
Bunchgrass
Buffalograss
• Perennial
• Native
Dioecious = Male & Female
flowers on different plants
Mike Haddock
True sodgrass with stolons Mike Haddock
Mike
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Hitchcock, A.S.
(rev.Haddock
A. Chase). 1950. Manual of the
grasses of the United States. USDA Miscellaneous Publication No. 200. Washington, DC.
Buffalograss
•Warm Season
• Shortgrass Prairie Dominant
True shortgrass
2 to 8 inches tall
Male flower
Mike Haddock
Female
flower
Mike Haddock
Mike Haddock
Cheatgrass/Downy Brome
• Annual
• Introduced
Panicle Inflorescence
Turns a purplish
color as it matures
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.
University of Idaho Stillinger Herbarium
(http://www.pnwherbaria.org)
Cheatgrass/Downy Brome
•Winter Annual
• Wildland fire fuel
Seedhead is a
drooping panicle
Jennifer Peterson
Crested Wheatgrass
• Perennial
• Introduced
Idaho Rangeland Resource Commission – drawing by Beverly Jaquish
Spike Inflorescence
Overlapping spikelets; seed
head appears feather-like or
comb-like
University of Idaho Stillinger Herbarium
(http://www.pnwherbaria.org)
Crested Wheatgrass
•Cool Season
• Strong Bunchgrass
Jennifer Peterson
Jennifer Peterson
bunchgrass
Idaho Fescue
• Perennial
• Native
Panicle Inflorescence
Narrow and tightly rolled
leaves; 2 to 10 inches long
Distinctive rich black,
dense, fine fibrous root
system
Idaho Rangeland Resource Commission – drawing by Beverly Jaquish
University of Idaho Stillinger Herbarium
(http://www.pnwherbaria.org)
Idaho Fescue
•Pacific & Intermountain
Bunchgrass Regions
Jennifer Peterson
Strong bunchgrass
Tobosa Grass
• Perennial
• Native
Spike inflorescence with
fan-like spikelets
Rhizmatous sodgrass
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.
University of Idaho Stillinger Herbarium
(http://www.pnwherbaria.org)
Tobosa Grass
• Warm season
• Desert grasslands
Nebraska Sedge
• Perennial
• Native
Triangular
stems
Male Flowers
Female Flowers
Leaves arise on
three sides of stem
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913. An
illustrated flora of the northern United States, Canada and the British
Possessions. 3 vols. Charles Scribner's Sons, New York. Vol. 1: 423.
University of Idaho Stillinger Herbarium
(http://www.pnwherbaria.org)
Tough, Thick Rhizomes
Nebraska Sedge
•Important riparian plant
•Distinctive blue leaves
Male Flowers
Female Flowers
Sheri Hagwood
Baltic Rush
• Perennial
• Native
Seedhead located on
the side of stem;
below the tip
Round stems;
no joints
Few leaves at the base,
not the stem
Creeping rhizome
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / USDA NRCS. Wetland flora: Field office illustrated
guide to plant species. USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service.
University of Idaho Stillinger Herbarium
(http://www.pnwherbaria.org)
Baltic Rush
•Important wetland plant
Robert H. Mohlenbrock
K. Launchbaugh