Vine-mesquite

Images

Click on image to view full size

Vine-mesquite ligule

Vine-mesquite spikelets and stigmas

Vine-mesquite

Vine-mesquite

Vine-mesquite spikelets

Vine-mesquite leaf

Morphology

Culm

Erect or ascending, decumbent at base, hollow to nearly solid, glabrous, sometimes waxy, bluish-green; stolon nodes woolly, nearly glabrous on erect culms.

Blades

Scattered along culm, flat, 1.6 to 8 inches long, 1/8 to 1/4 inch wide, firm, bluish-green, mostly glabrous or with few hairs on margins near base, often somewhat waxy; tip tapering to long point; stolon blades shorter, narrower.

Sheath

Shorter than internodes, mostly glabrous or with few hairs near ligule.

Ligule

Membranous, 1/25 to 1/12 inch long.

Inflorescence

Panicle, narrow, spike-like, 2 to 4.8 inches long, about .4 inch wide, included or short-exserted, densely flowered; primary branches erect or strongly ascending, generally not re-branched, .4 to 1.2 inch long.

Spikelets

In 2 uneven rows on 1 side of rachis, short-stalked, egg-shaped, 1/8 to 1/6 inch long, about 1/12 inch wide, swollen, glabrous, initially green, later brownish, blunt-tipped; glumes nearly equal, elliptic to egg-shaped, about 3/4 as long as spikelet, 5-9-nerved; sterile lemma nearly equal to second glume, strongly-nerved, tip blunt or rounded.

Ecology

Habitat

Moist, disturbed sites, roadside ditches, prairies, pastures, stream banks; sandy or gravelly soil.

Distribution

Southwest 1/4 and south-central Kansas

Practical Information

Forage Value

Used for forage and sometimes for hay. Quail and doves eat the seeds.

Uses

The Chiricahua and Mescalero Apache used the crushed seeds in meat gravy. The stolons were ground, mixed with soapweed, and used as a hair wash. Sometimes used to control soil erosion.

Additional Notes