Also Named: Indian Grass
Description A tall, loosely tufted
grass with spikelets forming shiny, golden-brown, plumelike masses
on tall stems.
Flowers: tiny, lacking petals;
stamens 3, with prominent, yellow
anthers protruding; styles 2. Flowers enclosed in hairy scales,
with a long, slender, twisted bristle projecting. Scales
grouped into spikelets up to 8 mm long; spikelets in
a narrow
cluster to 25 cm long.
Leaves: blades to 60 cm long, 1.3
cm wide; projecting from the stem at a 458 angle.
Flower August, September
Habitat Prairies; dry fields.
Range South Ontario and Quebec; south through
New England to Florida; west to Texas; north to North Dakota,
Wyoming,
and Manitoba.
Discussion This is a beautiful grass with a somewhat metallic
golden sheen to its flowering parts. It is an important associate
in the tallgrass prairies and is relished by livestock. It appears
to be favored by occasional flooding and repeated burning and
sometimes forms nearly pure stands in the lowlands.
