Schedonnardus paniculatus

Panicles 5-50 cm, rachises becoming curved; branches 2-8(16) cm. Lower glumes 1.5-3 mm; upper glumes 1.5-4(5.5) mm; lemmas 3-5 mm; anthers 0.7-1.4 mm. Caryopses 2.5-3.5 mm. 2n = 20, 30.

Schedonnardus paniculatus is frequently found in disturbed areas. At maturity, the panicle breaks at the base and functions as a tumbleweed for seed dispersal. It is often a conspicuous feature of deserted towns in films of the American West.

Culms 2-5 dm at anthesis; lvs usually clustered at base, the blade 3-5 cm נ1-2 mm; panicle constituting half to three-fourths the length of the shoot, rigid, with several very slender, widely divergent spikes 2-5 cm, the axis elongating after flowering, the whole panicle forming a loose spiral, breaking off and rolling before the wind; first glume 1.9-3.2 mm; second glume 2.6-4.3 mm; grain 2 mm; 2n=20, 30. Dry prairies; Ill. to Sask. and Ariz.; Argentina.

Gleason, Henry A. & Cronquist, Arthur J. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. lxxv + 910 pp.

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