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six-weeks fescue

rattail fescue, rattail six-weeks grass

Habit Simple or tufted annual 3-4 dm. tall, the culms glabrous and hollow, mostly concealed by the numerous leaves.
Leaves

Sheaths open, glabrous;

leaf blades about 1 mm. broad, usually folded, glabrous beneath and puberulent above;

auricles lacking;

ligules membranous, erose, 0.2-0.6 mm. long.

Flowers

Inflorescence a very narrow, elongate panicle 10-20 cm. long;

spikelets 4- to 6-flowered, articulating above the glumes;

glumes very narrowly lanceolate, unequal, the first about 1.5 mm. long, 1-nerved, the second 3-5 mm. long, 3-nerved;

lemmas glabrous, about 5.5 mm. long, with a terminal awn 10-15 mm. long;

stamens usually 1.

Fruits

Utricle

Vulpia octoflora

Vulpia myuros

Flowering time April-June April-June
Habitat Open, often disturbed areas, lowland to montane. Balds, open slopes, grasslands, roadsides, wastelots, and other disturbed open areas
Distribution
Occurring chiefly east of the Cascades crest in Washington; Alaska to California, east to the Atlantic Coast.
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[BONAP county map]
Occurring on both sides of the Cascades crest in Washington; Alaska to California, east across most of North America to the Atlantic Coast.
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Origin Native Introduced from Europe
Conservation status Not of concern Not of concern
Sibling taxa
V. bromoides, V. microstachys, V. myuros
V. bromoides, V. microstachys, V. octoflora
Subordinate taxa
V. octoflora var. hirtella, V. octoflora var. octoflora
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