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Native Grasses <br />32. Thickspike wheatPrass (A,eropyron <br />dasystachyum) <br />Grows during the spring and summer. A mid grass. <br />Plains, dry hills, exposed ridges and dry meadows. Often <br />in sandy or gravelly soil. North central, central and south <br />central parts of the state from 5,000 to 10,000 feet <br />Forage is rated as fair for all classes of livestock for <br />spring and summer grazing. Becomes rather wiry as it <br />matures. Withstands fairly heavy grating. <br />A sod-farming grass with extensive rhizomes. The <br />culms are l5 to 40 inches tall, erect or somewhat <br />decumbent at the base. Leaves 2 to 8 inches long, <br />sometimes flat but mostly inrol!ing, harsh. Inflorescence <br />is a terminal spike 2 to 6 inches long. Spikelets rather <br />distant to overlapping. Glumes broad in the middle to <br />sharp pointed, not awl shaped, usually have short hairs. <br />Lemmas densely to sparsely hairy. <br />Page 22 <br />33. Mutton grass (Poa fendleriana) <br />Begins growth eazly in the spring. Short to mid graze. <br />I, On mesas, open dry woods and rocky hills. Widely <br />distributed in the mountainous areas of the state from <br />5,000 to 11,500 feet. Also in the southeastern part of the <br />state. <br />Excellent forage for cattle and horses and good for <br />sheep. Grazed especially from early spring to <br />midsummer. <br />A bunchgrass. Culms are I to 2 feet tall, many per <br />plant, some do not produce an inflorescence. Usually <br />rough below the inflorescence. Leav~;s mostly basal, 2 to <br />l2 inches long, pale bluish green, often tightly folded, <br />rough beneath. Inflorescence is a narrow, densely <br />flowered panicle, 1 to 4 inches long; branches in two's or <br />three's. Spikelets flattened, often purplish. Male flowers <br />and female flowers usually born on ~;eparate plants <br />(dioecious). <br />