1. 25 Major Rangeland Plants
Range Plants -- OBJ 3: PPT
25 Major Rangeland Plants
Grasses and Grass-like Plants
By Karen Launchbaugh
There are

2. Grass Morphology Spike Panicle
Most grasses a have Spike or Panicle inflorescence

3. Sodgrass vs Bunchgrass
Rhizomes are below-ground modified stems that give rise to new plants. Solons are above-ground modified stems that give rise to new plants.

4. Major Grasses & Grass-likes
For Rangeland Principles Course

5. Range Plants -- OBJ 3: PPT
Big Bluestem
Perennial
Native
Seedhead with 3-major “finger-like” branches
Can have thick scaly rhizomes
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Hitchcock, A.S. (rev. A. Chase) Manual of the grasses of the United States. USDA Miscellaneous Publication No Washington, DC.
University of Idaho Stillinger Herbarium (
There are 16 slides in this presentation

6. Range Plants -- OBJ 3: PPT
Big Bluestem
Warm Season
Tallgrass Prairie Dominant
Mike Haddock
Turns red at maturity Tall grass 1.5 feet to 8 feet
K. Launchbaugh
There are 16 slides in this presentation

7. Range Plants -- OBJ 3: PPT
Blue Grama
Eyebrow-like inflorescence
Usually 2 branches per seedhead
Perennial
Native
Panicle seed heads
Forms thick sod – mostly basal leaves
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Hitchcock, A.S. (rev. A. Chase) Manual of the grasses of the United States. USDA Miscellaneous Publication No Washington, DC.
University of Idaho Stillinger Herbarium (
There are 16 slides in this presentation

8. Range Plants -- OBJ 3: PPT
Blue Grama
Robert Soreng
Warm Season
Shortgrass Prairie Dominant
Mike Haddock
Panicle seed heads
True shortgrass 6 to 20 inches tall
There are 16 slides in this presentation

9. Range Plants -- OBJ 3: PPT
Bluebunch Wheatgrass
Perennial
Native
Seeds have awns; bend outward as the seed head dries.
Has purple nodes.
Spike Seedhead
University of Idaho Stillinger Herbarium (
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Hitchcock, A.S. (rev. A. Chase) Manual of the grasses of the United States. USDA Miscellaneous Publication No Washington, DC.
There are 16 slides in this presentation

10. Range Plants -- OBJ 3: PPT
Bluebunch Wheatgrass
Cool season
Pacific & Intermountain Bunchgrass Regions
Jennifer Peterson
Has purple nodes.
Bunchgrass
Jennifer Peterson
There are 16 slides in this presentation

11. Range Plants -- OBJ 3: PPT
Buffalograss
Perennial
Native
Dioecious = Male & Female flowers on different plants
Female Pant
Female Pant
Male Pant
Male Pant
This grass makes a really good lawn grass.
Mike Haddock
True sodgrass with stolons
Mike Haddock
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Hitchcock, A.S. (rev. A. Chase) Manual of the grasses of the United States. USDA Miscellaneous Publication No Washington, DC.
Mike Haddock
There are 16 slides in this presentation

12. Range Plants -- OBJ 3: PPT
Buffalograss
Warm Season
Shortgrass Prairie Dominant
True shortgrass 2 to 8 inches tall
This grass makes a really good lawn grass.
Male flower
Mike Haddock
Female flower
Mike Haddock
Mike Haddock
There are 16 slides in this presentation

13. Cheatgrass/Downy Brome
Range Plants -- OBJ 3: PPT
Cheatgrass/Downy Brome
Annual
Introduced
Panicle Inflorescence
Turns a purplish color as it matures
As it matures, plants turn purple-red. They are palatable for grazers if they are grazed during early growth stage. Later in the season it becomes lignified and becomes less palatable. When it turns purple, it is very good fuel for fire because of the continuous mats it forms.
Cheatgrass is highly invasive, especially in sagebrush ecosystems after fire disturbance.
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Hitchcock, A.S. (rev. A. Chase) Manual of the grasses of the United States. USDA Miscellaneous Publication No Washington, DC.
University of Idaho Stillinger Herbarium (
There are 16 slides in this presentation

14. Cheatgrass/Downy Brome
Range Plants -- OBJ 3: PPT
Cheatgrass/Downy Brome
Winter Annual
Wildland fire fuel
Seedhead is a drooping panicle
As it matures, plants turn purple-red. They are palatable for grazers if they are grazed during early growth stage. Later in the season it becomes lignified and becomes less palatable. When it turns purple, it is very good fuel for fire because of the continuous mats it forms.
Cheatgrass is highly invasive, especially in sagebrush ecosystems after fire disturbance.
Jennifer Peterson
There are 16 slides in this presentation

15. Range Plants -- OBJ 3: PPT
Crested Wheatgrass
Spike Inflorescence
Overlapping spikelets; seed head appears feather-like or comb-like
Perennial
Introduced
-useful in restoring rangelands, especially in potential or current cheatgrass-dominated areas. Overlapping spikes = imbricated. A very persistent plant = grazing resistant, drought resistant, fire resistant.
University of Idaho Stillinger Herbarium (
Idaho Rangeland Resource Commission – drawing by Beverly Jaquish
There are 16 slides in this presentation

16. Range Plants -- OBJ 3: PPT
Crested Wheatgrass
Cool Season
Strong Bunchgrass
-useful in restoring rangelands, especially in potential or current cheatgrass-dominated areas. Overlapping spikes = imbricated. A very persistent plant = grazing resistant, drought resistant, fire resistant.
Jennifer Peterson
bunchgrass
Jennifer Peterson
There are 16 slides in this presentation

17. Range Plants -- OBJ 3: PPT
Idaho Fescue
Perennial
Native
Panicle Inflorescence
-a soft-feeling grass, distinctively thin narrow leaves and roots. Panicle seed head, mostly basal leaves, dark roots.
Narrow and tightly rolled leaves; 2 to 10 inches long
Distinctive rich black, dense, fine fibrous root system
University of Idaho Stillinger Herbarium (
Idaho Rangeland Resource Commission – drawing by Beverly Jaquish
There are 16 slides in this presentation

18. Range Plants -- OBJ 3: PPT
Idaho Fescue
Pacific & Intermountain Bunchgrass Regions
-a soft-feeling grass, distinctively thin narrow leaves and roots. Panicle seed head, mostly basal leaves, dark roots.
Strong bunchgrass
Jennifer Peterson
There are 16 slides in this presentation

19. Tobosa Grass Perennial Native*
07/16/96
Tobosa Grass
Perennial
Native
Spike inflorescence with fan-like spikelets
Rhizmatous sodgrass
University of Idaho Stillinger Herbarium (
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Hitchcock, A.S. (rev. A. Chase) Manual of the grasses of the United States. USDA Miscellaneous Publication No Washington, DC. *

20. *
07/16/96
Tobosa Grass
Warm season
Desert grasslands *

21. Range Plants -- OBJ 3: PPT
Nebraska Sedge
Perennial
Native
Triangular stems
Male Flowers
Female Flowers
Named in Nebraska, but more common in the West. Monecious (both flowers on one plant) male flower on top, female flower below. Strongly rhizomatous. Nutricious plant.
Leaves arise on three sides of stem
University of Idaho Stillinger Herbarium (
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown An illustrated flora of the northern United States, Canada and the British Possessions. 3 vols. Charles Scribner's Sons, New York. Vol. 1: 423.
Tough, Thick Rhizomes
There are 4 slides in this presentation

22. Range Plants -- OBJ 3: PPT
Nebraska Sedge
Important riparian plant
Distinctive blue leaves
Male Flowers
Named in Nebraska, but more common in the West. Monecious (both flowers on one plant) male flower on top, female flower below. Strongly rhizomatous. Nutricious plant.
Female Flowers
Sheri Hagwood
There are 4 slides in this presentation

23. Range Plants -- OBJ 3: PPT
Baltic Rush
Perennial
Native
Seedhead located on the side of stem; below the tip
Round stems; no joints
Few leaves at the base, not the stem
Also called wiregrass. Flowers below the tip of the plant. Few leaves = poor forage value. Strongly rhizomatous, forms solid stands. As it starts to dry, it twists which is why its called wiregrass.
University of Idaho Stillinger Herbarium (
Creeping rhizome
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / USDA NRCS. Wetland flora: Field office illustrated guide to plant species. USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service.
There are 4 slides in this presentation

24. Range Plants -- OBJ 3: PPT
Baltic Rush
Important wetland plant
Also called wiregrass. Flowers below the tip of the plant. Few leaves = poor forage value. Strongly rhizomatous, forms solid stands. As it starts to dry, it twists which is why its called wiregrass.
K. Launchbaugh
Robert H. Mohlenbrock
There are 4 slides in this presentation