Garry Oak Ecosystems Recovery Team (GOERT)

Perennial tufted grass from fibrous roots; stems 15-90 cm tall. Leaves: Sheaths open, smooth to hairy with short hairs; lower blades 0.5-1.5 mm wide, upper blades to 2.5 mm wide; lower ligules 0.5-1.2 mm long, blunt to pointed, the upper ligules to 2.5 mm long. Flowers: Inflorescence a narrow panicle, 7-21 cm long, the branches straight, appressed to ascending, the spikelets appressed to the branches; florets somewhat flattened laterally rather than rounded; glumes 7-11.5 mm long, smooth; lemmas 3-4.5 mm long, leathery, smooth above, short-hairy below, the hairs 0.5 mm long, the tips with thick, 0.1 mm - long lobes at the ends, awned, the awns 16-30 mm long, the first segments rough or short-hairy, persistent; paleas 3/4 as long as the lemmas or nearly equal to them, the calluses 0.4-1.2 mm long, blunt (Douglas et al., 2001). Photo by Keir Morse.

Poaceae

Open slopes in the lowland and montane sites (Douglas et al., 2001).

Dry.

Open ground and open woods (Hitchcock, 1971).

Component.

Valuable forage plant grazed mainly when young (Hitchcock, 1971).

Mix with other perennial grasses in meadow setting (B. Costanzo, personal communication).

Early June.

Annual.

Collect by hand, strip and de-awn (Rose et al., 1998).

Store in paper bag and keep refrigerated through summer (Rose et al., 1998).

Cold stratify in potassium nitrate and gibberellic acid and plant in three-cubic-inch containers in a peat:vermiculite (1:1) medium. Apply a low-nitrogen fertilizer once a week (Rose et al., 1998).

Good success with plant division. Divide plant in dormant season (B. Costanzo, personal communication), late fall to early spring.

For more information and pictures, visit the E-Flora BC website at www.eflora.bc.ca.