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Montana Field Guide

Montana Field Guides

Tall Oatgrass - Arrhenatherum elatius
Other Names:  False Oatgrass, Tall Meadow Oat, Tuber Oatgrass

Image Copyright and Usage Information
Non-native Species

Global Rank: GNR
State Rank: SNA
C-value: 0


Agency Status
USFWS:
USFS:
BLM:


 

External Links

 
General Description
Cool season, perennial bunchgrass. Stems 40–120 cm, base of stem not enlarged or bulbous. Leaves: blades 5–9 mm wide, flat and lax; sheaths with overlapping margins; ligule membranous. Inflorescence a contracted panicle, 12–30 cm long, the branches short and verticillate. Spikelets 8–10 mm long, with 2 florets; glumes 1 nerved. Lemmas 8–9 mm long; staminate (first) floret with a twisted bent awn 1–1.6 cm long, occasionally lemma of fertile (second) floret short- to long-awned; palea well developed. Disarticulation above glumes; dispersal unit the floret cluster (Lavin in Lesica et al. 2012. Manual of Montana Vascular Plants. BRIT Press. Fort Worth, TX).

Species Range
Montana Range Range Descriptions

Non-native
 


Range Comments
Introduced throughout much of North America (Lavin in Lesica et al. 2012. Manual of Montana Vascular Plants. BRIT Press. Fort Worth, TX).

Observations in Montana Natural Heritage Program Database
Number of Observations: 33

(Click on the following maps and charts to see full sized version) Map Help and Descriptions
Relative Density

Recency

 

(Observations spanning multiple months or years are excluded from time charts)



Habitat
Mountain meadows, rangeland, pastures, and roadside ditches, and sometimes cultivated (Lavin in Lesica et al. 2012. Manual of Montana Vascular Plants. BRIT Press. Fort Worth, TX).

Management


References
  • Literature Cited AboveLegend:   View Online Publication
    • Lesica, P., M.T. Lavin, and P.F. Stickney. 2012. Manual of Montana Vascular Plants. Fort Worth, TX: BRIT Press. viii + 771 p.
  • Additional ReferencesLegend:   View Online Publication
    Do you know of a citation we're missing?
    • Brey, C.W. 1998. Epidemiology of wheat curl mite (Aceria tosichella K.) and wheat streak mosaic virus on feral grass species and effect of glyphosate on wheat curl mite dispersal. Ph.D. Dissertation. Bozeman, MT: Montana State University. 136 p.
    • Lesica, P., M.T. Lavin, and P.F. Stickney. 2022. Manual of Montana Vascular Plants, Second Edition. Fort Worth, TX: BRIT Press. viii + 779 p.
    • Martinka, R.R. 1970. Structural characteristics and ecological relationships of male blue grouse (Dendragapus obscurus (Say)) territories in southwestern Montana. Ph.D Dissertation. Bozeman, MT: Montana State University. 73 p.
  • Web Search Engines for Articles on "Tall Oatgrass"
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Citation for data on this website:
Tall Oatgrass — Arrhenatherum elatius.  Montana Field Guide.  .  Retrieved on , from