Flora of North America species comparison

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Heteropogon contortus

tangelhead, tanglehead
Habit Plants perennial.
Culms

20-150 cm, erect.
Sheaths

smooth, reddish;

ligules 0.5-0.8 mm, cilia 0.2-0.5 mm;

blades 10-15 cm long, 2-7 mm wide, flat or folded, glabrous or pubescent.
Rames

3-7 cm, secund, with 12-22, brown to reddish-brown, sessile-pedicellate spikelet pairs.
Homogamous

spikelets 6-10 mm.
Heterogamous

spikelets: sessile spikelets 5-10 mm, brown, awned;

calluses 1.8-2 mm, strigose;

awns 6-10 cm; pedicellate spikelets 6-10 mm, unawned;

glumes ovate-lanceolate, glabrous or with papillose-based hairs distally, without glandular pits, greenish to purplish-brown, becoming stramineous when dry.
2n

= 40, 50, 60.

Heteropogon contortus
Distribution
from FNA
AZ; CA; FL; NM; TX; HI; PR; Virgin Islands
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Discussion

Heteropogon contortus grows on rocky hills and canyons in the southern United States into Mexico, and worldwide in subtropical and tropical areas, occupying a variety of different habitats, including disturbed habitats. It is probably native to the eastern hemisphere but is now found in tropical and subtropical areas throughout the world.

Heteropogon contortus is a valuable forage grass if continuously grazed so as to prevent the calluses from developing. It is also considered a weed, being able to establish itself in newly disturbed and poor soils.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 25, p. 680.
Parent taxa Poaceae > subfam. Panicoideae > tribe Andropogoneae > Heteropogon
Sibling taxa
H. melanocarpus
Synonyms Andropogon contortus
Name authority (L.) P. Beauv. ex Roem. & Schult.
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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