SQUIRRELTAIL
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| File Size: 151 KB |
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Elymus elymoides (Raf. ) Swezey subsp. elymoides
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| [=Sitanion hystrix (Nutt. ) J.G. Sm. var. brevifolium (J.G. Sm. ) Hitchc.] |
| Cheyenne County, Kansas |
| Perennial |
| Height: 6 to 24 inches tall |
| Family: Poaceae - Grass Family |
| Flowering Period: May, June, July |
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| Also Called: | | Bottlebrush squirreltail. | | Culms: | | Stiff, erect, hollow, and smooth. | | Blades: | | Flat or rolled inward, narrow, often stiff and ascending, 2 to 8 inches long, about 1/10 inch wide, glabrous or lightly hairy, pronounced ridges above. | | Sheaths: | | Open margins, glabrous to hairy. | | Ligules: | | Short, membranous, collar-shaped, irregularly notched; auricles prominent, often purplish. | | Inflorescences: | | Spikes, dense, bristly, 3 to 6 inches long (excluding awns), terminal, sometimes partially enclosed in upper sheaths. | | Spikelets: | | 1-3, on alternating sides at each node, 2-6-flowered; glumes and lemmas with rough awns 1 to 3.5 inches long. | | Habitat: | | Found on dry prairie uplands, pastures, roadsides, and waste ground. | | Distribution: | | Occurs in the west third of Kansas. | | Forage Value: | | Squirreltail has little forage value for livestock or wildlife. | | Comments: | | Tufted. The awns spread wide when mature, giving the inflorescence the appearance of a bottlebrush. The awns can cause injury to the ears, noses, and mouths of livestock. |
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| squirreltail |  | | 140 KB | | Cheyenne County, Kansas |
| | squirreltail |  | | 151 KB | | Cheyenne County, Kansas |
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