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Grass ID?

11 years ago

A friend of mine saw this bunch grass growing by a building in Albuquerque NM, she thinks its a volunteer since it was the only one. Anyone know what it is? I was guessing maybe its Wolftail? She says its blue and about the size of blue grama. If you enlarge the photo, you can see the seed heads. I think its got possibilities as a drought tolerant small landscape grass, I really like it.

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Comments (3)

wantonamara Z8 CenTex
11 years ago
Not yet on the ID. Did she grab any of the seed?
wantonamara Z8 CenTex
10 years ago
They have wolf tail grass seed at PoSW

Here is their spiel on it

2 ft. tall bunchgrass with a thin wolftail seed spike. Foliage like Blue Grama grass with which it grows. Rocky slopes, gravelly areas and prairies 4,000 - 8,000 ft. elevation. A good looking, valuable range grass.

Can you get your friend to get a closer shot of the spikelets and see if they match these photos. The bunch seems a lot thinner but that could be because of age, sun, water and fertility of the soil. PoSW description of 2" gives me a pause.

Wolf tail spikelet
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A grass (maybe switchgrass?) Was planted in that area several years ago, but this looks so ordinary I'm not sure if it is not just a weed. I mulched around it just in case it is worth keeping!
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Looks like Miscanthus sinensis 'Morning Light'....and your description of the seedhead fits well also :-) As mentioned, this type of OG will develop best in a full sun location. Too much shade will delay or prevent the seedheads and stunt the growth overall. Lots of good OG's for a shadier site however....just not the miscanthus.
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I've included a couple of new pictures showing some individual blades that weren't mowed but yes, I wish I would've gotten pictures before mowing. I could wait a couple of weeks if that would help. My 3rd picture includes a grass that seeds but it might be a different grass type than the turf grass. There was quite a bit of that seeding grass before I mowed and it was tall. I'm sure I'll be seeing it for years to come. I don't remember seeds or flowers from the turf grass but there are quite a few weeds and different grass types growing throughout. Thank you
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wantonamara Z8 CenTex
10 years ago
last modified: 10 years ago
Ooh , ooh, oooh, I think I might have got a possibility. This is a neat site anyway. LOTS of grasses. My thought is Setaria leucopila AKA Streamed Bristlegrass or plans bristlegrass.

Streambed Bristlegrass

Great list of grasses for the arid lands. I need to peruse further. Txranger, You are probably already familiar with this . I just found it. It is getting bookmarked. They have Forbes and woody plants pages too.

Grass list

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