Desert Grasslands

Asteraceae Baccharis sarothroides desert broom

• Discious

• yellow to cream color flowers

• silky hairs for female flowers

• One flower per branch

• Stems are always green

• Stems are sticky and the leaves

• Almost never see leaves (only on brand new growth)

• Germinates in the winter, can flower in the winter

Asteraceae Isocoma tenuisecta burroweed

• Native Perennial

• Monoecious

• flowers are yellow and cluster on top of the stems

• Deeply dissected leaves

• Alternate on the stem

• Base of the flower has small black dots

• toxic

• indicator of overgrazing

Asteraceae Flourensia cernua tarbush

• Native perennial

• tar on the stems, leaves, and flowers

• flowers nod over

• flowers are sticky and black resin or tar

• As they age the tar gets blacker and blacker

• poisonous

Fabaceae Prosopis glandulosa mesquite

• Native perennial

• bi-pinnate leaves

• Long spike like yellow flower

• Typically have a single spine

• Bumps on the stem (scars)

• Longer bean pods

• More beans in the pods

Liliaceae Yucca elata soaptree yucca

• Smaller than joshua trees

• Flat leave

• spines only at the tip of the leaf

Poaceae Bothriochloa barbinodis cane beardgrass

• Native perenial

• spike-let has a long awn on it (perfect)

• Sliver to white hairs that are stiff not fluffy

• Leaf will extend beyond the inflorescences

• kinked in the leafs

• Nodes are hairy

Poaceae Heteropogon contortus tanglehead

• kinked awns (two kinks)

• cause awns to twist together look braided

• spikelet has very long awn

• leaf blades are quite flat

• stems tend to be compressed

• bronze or copper color later in the season

Poaceae Sorghum halepense Johnsongrass

• Introduced perennial

• Large grass

• broad leaves

• very large plant

• one kink in awn (Medium in length)

• strong rhizomes

• poisonous after a frost

Poaceae Aristida purpurea purple threeawn

Native perennial

• narrow panicle

• spikelets are one flowers

• three parted awns

• leaves are curled (look fine)

• looks delicate

• purple color in the inflorescences

Poaceae Bouteloua aristidoides needle grama

• Native annual

• 6 week native grama

• roots are super tiny

• Spikelets are very fine and small

• one of the flowerets have a three-parted awn

• three awn like

Poaceae Bouteloua curtipendula sideoats grama

• native perennial

• smaller cluster of spike let

• all the inflorescence cluster on one side of the stem

• Each spikelet has two flowerets

• super short three parted awns

• small orange flowers

Poaceae Bouteloua eriopoda black grama

• Native perennial

• hairy at the base of the branch

• Ascending branches

• larger and thiner

• spikelet will follow the stem

• Where the branches connect to stem are hairy

• Internodes are hairy

• hairy foot

Poaceae Bouteloua hirsuta hairy grama

• Native perennial

• Fewer branches on the inflorescence

• very hairy

• branches are bigger

• grow more downard

• hairy

• branches are more lateral

• bare spot on the spikelet

• hairs look like a caterpillar

Poaceae Bouteloua rothrockii Rothrock grama

• Native Perennial but just barely

• Lots of branches in the inflorescence

• smaller not quite as hairy

• spikelet goes all the way to the end of the branch

• alternating branches

Poaceae Hilaria belangeri curly mesquite

• Native perennial

• small plant

• inflorescence is a spike

• spikelets directly attached to the stem

• spikelets in clusters

• two lateral spikelets

• one central spikelet

• pronounce zig zag steam once spikelets fall off

• rounded spikelets

• leaf blades cluster to the bottom of the plant

• hairy nodes

Poaceae Hilaria mutica tobosa

• Native perennial

• much bigger

• spike inflorescence

• flowerets are little more pointy

• rhizomes

• ragged spikelets

Poaceae Eragrostis intermedia plains lovegrass

• Native perennial

• spikelets are very plain

• no awns

• very big/broad triangle or pyramid shape inflorescence

• hairy branches

Poaceae Eragrostis lehmanniana Lehmann lovegrass

• Introduced perennial

• compact pannicle

• spikelets are larger

• no hairy branches

Poaceae Leptochloa dubia green sprangletop

• Native perennial

• Spikelets are not as pact together

• Longer branches

• no awns

• stems grow in all directions

• very large grass

Poaceae Muhlenbergia porteri bush muhly

• Native perennial

• under mesquite

• one floweret per spikelet

• mid length awns

• kinked leaf blades

• combs are perennial

• purple

• remain green all year if conditions permit

Poaceae Scleropogon brevifolius burrograss

• Native perennial

• short grass

• Diecious

• staminate

  • simple flowerets

  • no awns

• Pistilate

  • three parted awns

• more purple then red

Poaceae Digitaria californica Arizona cottontop

• Native perennial

• narrow pannicle

• alternating branches

• spikelets are paired

• silver to white cottony hairs

  • surround spikelets

• looks like cotton

• hairy collars

Rhamnaceae Ziziphus obtusifolia graythorn

• Native perennial

• stems are almost perfectly 90 degree angle

• all stems have a sharp tip

• oval leaves

• small fruit

• red to blue in color

• woody stems

• gray-green stems

• decsidous

• little green flowers