Kansas Wildflowers and Grasses

TUMBLEGRASS

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Schedonnardus paniculatus (Nutt. ) Trel.

Konza Prairie, Riley County, Kansas

Perennial

Height: 6-28 inches

Family: Poaceae - Grass Family

Flowering Period: July, August, September

Culms:

Erect or decumbent at base, solid, somewhat flattened, rough, curving or arching, more so above; base branched.

Blades:

Mainly basal, ascending or arched, flat, wavy, .8 to 4.4 inches long, 1/25 to 1/9 inch wide, smooth, midrib prominent; margins narrowly white, rough with fine teeth; base gradually narrowed; blades twist spirally when mature.

Sheaths:

Crowded at base, loose, open to base, keeled, smooth to rough; margin membranous, continuous with ligule.

Ligules:

Membrane, glabrous, whitish, 1/25 to 1/6 inch long, tapering-pointed.

Inflorescences:

Panicle of widely spaced spikes, 2 to 20+ inches long, 1/2 to 3/4 length of plant; spikes 2-14, stiff, slender, separated .8 to 6+ inches, arranged pinnately and alternately along rachis, curving at maturity; terminal spike at tip.

Spikelets:

Variable, numerous, sessile, narrow, 1/8 to 1/4 inch long, flattened, in 2 rows alternating on rachis, 1-flowered; glumes slightly unequal, linear to narrowly lanceolate, 1/16 to 1/5 inch long, stiff, 1-nerved; tips sharply pointed, awned; lemmas narrowly lanceolate, 1/8 to 1/5 inch long, longer than body of second glume, rigid, 3-nerved, slightly pubescent; back rounded; tips tapering to sharp points; unawned.

Habitat:

Open, disturbed sites, roadsides, pastures, dry prairies; various soil types.

Distribution:

Throughout Kansas.

Origin:

Native

Reproduction:

By seeds.

Forage Value:

Very limited forage value. Tumble grass is not abundant and the forage quality is poor.

Comments:

Low tufted. Warm season. At maturity, the culms turn downward and the inflorescence nearly touches the ground. The common name alludes to the inflorescence breaking away at the base like a tumbleweed. This is how the seeds are dispersed. Tumblegrass increases under disturbance and will invade overgrazed pastures.

Tumblegrass inflorescence