North Central Texas Grasses

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Dot Lang's GRASS Notes** for east Wise County, Texas
Monocot Class
Poaceae ~ Grass Family

Work in Progress

Digitaria cognata ? Possibly Panicum capilllare?
		Annual, clumping. A favorite, so light and airy when in seed. .

Bouteloua species Grama grass

*Cenchrus* species Field Sandbur, grassbur	Cenchrus spinifex	spring, summer, fall, annual
[not getting good photos of this grass]		STICKERS! Plant is relatively "brittle" ie, stems can be easily pulled off of base or break at nodes of stems. Likewise, the stickers, which grow at the ends of the stems, easily fall off and attach to clothing when you wander by and barely touch the plant. They also catch onto other plants and the fur of animals, not to mention bare feet and foot pads of animals. In other words, great "velcro" hooks.

Muhlenbergia reverchonii⁷	Seep Muhly, Reverchon's Muhly
Close up showing florets spaced on stems and the extended awns.		reddish color in field, awns extend beyond seed. light and airy looking. and it is growing in a seep. close relative: Muhlenbergia capillaris
morning dew 10/21	red tinge 10/24	purple tinge 10/30
straw color 12/29

**Aristida longiespica var. geniculata ⁷**	Plains 3-Awn
	.	Annual grass. sticks in clothing, shoes, socks. Not a tall grass.
Thumbnail showing the two glumes which incased the seed in the photo at right		Early June morning with dew/humidity still keeping awns closed in. Later in day as they dry out, they spread out.

Andropogon glomeratus Bushy Bluestem ^{5,7, 2}
Wintered over in 2014/2015, Now mowed off 2015. Perennial. in neighbors back field.	2015 What I have circled in red on the larger photo is the clump I broke off for the next 2 photos.	Also along ditch on CR2264 in one spot only. Noticed it in the field by the ditch in 2015. Not very easy to find. Seems to like moist areas. Pretty grass. Some growing well, just below an earthan cattle tank across the road from the field. Field is by a stream that floods into it during heavy rains.
cut 2015, sprig from grass clump	and a close up of same sprig.

Andropogon virginicus Broomsedge Bluestem ²
		Perennial

Schedonnardus panniculatus10
	.	strangest grass. It acts like rolled up wire that is being unwound loosely, when it goes to flower. It is not dodder which is a parasite but an actual grass with shades of green and a pink tone on the grass stems. It spreads out over the tops of the other plants in the area. Found in back field, sporadically, long stem that curves around. Leaves form tuft of grass at base of stems "Minor member of original prairie grass" ⁷

unknown

^{Schizachyrium scoparium(Michx.) Nash}	Little Bluestem
		Have a lot of this growing on the land. Another native prairie grass species.

^{Bothriochloa laguroides.}	^{Silver bluestem}

Andropogon gerardii	Big Bluestem	perennial
		Tall, 4 to 7 feet., found in my flower beds! clumps. "turkey foot" tough to remove. Grass turns rusty color in fall.

** - Grasses have not been my field of study. Ids will be from pictures on the net or books below that cover grasses and help from experts in field. There will be quite a few grasses found in my local area, including some invasive.

As ID'd from:

¹ Wild Flowers of Texas book by Geyata Ajilvsgi, revised ed. 2003
²Lady Bird Johnson WildFlower Center website,
³Kansas State Wildflowers website.
⁴100 Texas Wildflowers by Dorothy Baird Mattiza for the Native Plant Society of Texas, 1993
⁵ Native Plant Society of Texas
⁶ Texas Wildflowers by Leo Meier & Jan Reid
⁷ Shiner & Mahler's Illustrated Flora of North Central Texas by Diggs, Lipscomb & O'Kennon, 1999
⁸ Google searches used to help verify and find more info
⁹ USDA website Plant Database

Wildflower Bibliography & Link page