Annual False Wheatgrass - Eremopyrum triticeum
Other Names:
Agropyron triticeum
Cool season annual bunchgrass. Stems erect to somewhat spreading, 15–30 cm. Leaves: blades flat to inrolled, ascending, 2–6 mm wide; sheaths with overlapping margins; ligule membranous. Inflorescence 1–2 cm long, a bilateral terminal spike with a continuous rachis. Spikelets one per node, 8–12 mm long with several florets very crowded and diverging at wide angles (40–80°), the internodes 1/10 - 1/8 the length of the spikelets; glumes smaller than lemmas; glumes and lemmas becoming hardened or bony in texture at maturity. Lemmas tapering to an awn-tip; palea enclosed by lemma. Disarticulation below the glumes; unit of dispersal the burr-like spike of spikelets (Lavin in
Lesica et al. 2012. Manual of Montana Vascular Plants. BRIT Press. Fort Worth, TX).
Roadsides, gravel pits, margins of garbage dumps, and other regularly disturbed settings with sandy or gravelly soils where competition with other grasses is minimal (Lavin in
Lesica et al. 2012. Manual of Montana Vascular Plants. BRIT Press. Fort Worth, TX).