PORCUPINEGRASS
File Size: 151 KB
 
Hesperostipa spartea   (Trin. ) Barkworth
[=Stipa spartea Trin.]
Russell County, Kansas
Perennial
Height: 18-55 inches
Family: Poaceae - Grass Family
Flowering Period:   May, June, July
Culms: Erect to ascending, simple, nearly glabrous.
Blades: Basal and cauline; blades 6 to 20 (34) inches long, .12 to .2 inch wide, involute at maturity, upper surface ridged and usually pubescent, lower surface not conspicuously ridged, glabrous to minutely pubescent.
Sheaths: Mostly overlapping, terete, usually glabrous, margins ciliate.
Ligules: Membranous, firm, .14 to .28 inch, acute or truncate or rounded, usually entire.
Inflorescences: Panicle, not enclosed in sheath, narrow, nodding, mostly 4 to 12 inches long; branches few, slender, erect, bearing 1 or 2 spikelets near tip.
Spikelets: Narrow, 1-flowered, 1.2 to 1.8 inches long; glumes narrow, nearly equal, 1 to 1.8 inch long, keeled, 7-9-veined, attenuate to aristate; lemmas brown, narrow, rigid, nearly cylindric, .7 to 1 inch long excluding awn, unevenly pubescent; callus attached to base of floret, hard, .12 to .24 inch, sharp-pointed, densely pubescent, terminating in awn 4 to 8 inches long; awn spirally twisted, twice bent; palea enclosed by lemmas, prominent.
Habitat: Prairies, open rocky hillsides
Distribution: East 1/2 of Kansas
Origin: Native
Forage Value: Porcupinegrass is a good early season forage grass for cattle and horses, but the mature awns and sharp-pointed calluses can cause mouth, eye, and ear injuries.
Comments: The awns twist in dry weather and untwist in damp conditions.

Porcupine grass habit
141 KB
Russell County, Kansas
Porcupinegrass anthers
80 KB
Russell County, Kansas
Porcupinegrass awns
67 KB
Russell County, Kansas
Porcupinegrass ligule
76 KB
Russell County, Kansas
Porcupine grass
215 KB
Russell County, Kansas
Porcupine grass
208 KB
Russell County, Kansas