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Grasses |
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Common name |
Scientific name |
Height |
Flowering period |
Light requirement |
Moisture requirement |
Description |
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Indian ricegrass |
Achnatherum hymenoides |
8-30” |
May-July |
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Bunchgrass with numerous leaves and attractive seed heads. Prefers sandy soils. Reproduces by seed. Forage for birds. Good stabilizer for soils susceptible to wind erosion. |
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Thurber’s needle grass |
Achnatherum thurberianum |
12-24” |
May-June |
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Perennial bunchgrass with purplish inflorescences, 3 to 4 inches long. Effective in reducing wind and water erosion on sandy or loamy soils. |
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Tufted hairgrass |
Deschampsia cespitosa |
8-48” |
June-August |
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Perennial, cool season, tufted bunchgrass. Inflorescence 4 to 12-iches long. Good for reclaiming disturbed soils at high elevation. |
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Prairie junegrass |
Koeleria macrantha |
6-24” |
April - June |
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Perennial, cool season, tufted bunchgrass. Several seed heads arise from basal cluster of narrow leaves. Green to purplish inflorescence. |
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Bottlebrush squirreltail |
Elymus elymoides |
4-25” |
May - August |
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Cool-season, perennial bunchgrass. Inflorescence 1 ti 7 inches long. Easily established in open or disturbed sites. Competitive with weedy grasses such as cheatgrass. |
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Idaho fescue |
Festuca idahoensis |
1-3’ |
May-July |
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Cool-season, perennial bunchgrass with fine, narrow leaves, blue to green in color. |
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Needle and thread grass |
Hesperostipa comata |
1-4’ |
June |
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Cool-season, perennial bunchgrass with interesting 4 to 5-inch twisted awn that stems from the inflorescence. |
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Basin wildrye |
Leymus cinereus |
3-6’ |
Early to mid-summer |
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Large, robust, cool season, perennial bunchgrass that is long-lived. Diameter 2 to 4 feet wide. Provides good cover for birds and wildlife. Good soil stabilizer. |
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Sandberg bluegrass |
Poa secunda |
8-16” |
June |
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Cool-season, short-lived, perennial bunchgrass with smooth deep blue green leaves, 8 to 16-inches long. Grows in either small tufts or large tussocks. Early spring growth provides cover for nesting upland game birds. |
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Bluebunch wheatgrass |
Pseudoroegneria spicata |
1.5-4’ |
June |
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Long-lived, cool season bunchgrass with extensive root system. Leaves green to blue color. Seed spikes, 3 to 8 inches long. Provides cover for nesting upland birds. Good soil stabilizer. |
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=Full sun
= Partial shade
= Shade
= Drought tolerant
= Moderate moisture
= Wet
