Poverty oatgrass

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Poverty oatgrass flowering inflorescence

Poverty oatgrass

Poverty oatgrass collar inflorescence

Poverty oatgrass

Poverty oatgrass blades

Poverty oatgrass inflorescence

Poverty oatgrass habit

Poverty oatgrass inflorescence

Poverty oatgrass flowering

Morphology

Culm

Erect, slender, stiff, unbranched, glabrous.

Blades

Numerous leaves in dense basal cluster; erect and ascending; blades filiform, 1 to 6 inches long, .04 to .08 inch wide, sparsely pilose or glabrous, margins often ciliate, involute at maturity, often curling with age.

Sheath

Shorter than internodes, open, glabrous or sparsely pilose, usually with tuft of hairs at throat.

Ligule

Short line of hairs

Inflorescence

Panicle, erect or ascending, sparsely branched, contracted or open, few-flowered, 1 to 2.5 inches long, .2 to .6 inch wide; branches short, bearing 1 or 2 spikelets.

Spikelets

Pedicels ascending, short, stiff; 4-9-flowered, .3 to .5 inch long, disarticulating above glumes and between florets; florets not close approximate; glumes nearly equal, narrowly lanceolate, .3 to .6 inch long, much exceeding lemmas, similar in size and shape, glabrous, tips acute or acuminate; lemmas broadly ovate, .16 to .2 inch, sparingly hairy, tip narrowed to two teeth, teeth acuminate, awn arising between teeth, .2 to .4 inch long, twisted and divergent when mature; palea broad, flat, obtuse.

Ecology

Habitat

Open or dry woods, rocky slopes, upland prairies, roadsides, and dry, disturbed sites; prefers full sun.

Distribution

East 1/4 of Kansas

Practical Information

Forage Value

Low forage palatability for livestock.

Additional Notes