Vulpia octoflora
Vulpia octoflora var. glauca
eight-flower six-weeks grass, pullout grass, six-weeks fescue, six-weeks grass, six-weeks vulpia
sixweeks fescue
5-60 cm, solitary or loosely tufted, glabrous or pubescent.
glabrous or pubescent;
ligules 0.3-1 mm;
blades to 10 cm long, 0.5-1 mm wide, flat or rolled, glabrous or pubescent.
4-10(13) mm, with (4)5-11(17) florets;
rachilla internodes 0.5-0.7 mm.
usually 4-6.5 mm, subsessile or short-pedicellate.
1.7-4.5 mm, 1/2 - 2/3 the length of the upper glumes;
upper glumes 2.5-7.2 mm;
lemmas 2.7-6.5 mm, 5-veined, smooth, scabrous, or pubescent, apices entire, no more pubescent than the bases, awns of the lowermost lemma in each spikelet 0.3-9 mm;
paleas slightly shorter than the lemmas, apices entire or minutely bifid, teeth shorter than 0.2 mm;
anthers 0.3-1.5 mm.
1.7-3.7 mm.
1-7(20) cm long, 0.5-1.5 cm wide, with 1-2 branches per node;
branches appressed to spreading.
branches usually appressed, infrequently spreading distally, spikelets closely arranged.
glabrous or scabrous;
awns of the lowermost lemma in each spikelet 0.3-3 mm.
= 14.
Vulpia octoflora
Vulpia octoflora var. glauca
Vulpia octoflora, a widespread native species, tends to be displaced by the introduced Bromus tectorum in the Pacific Northwest. It grows in grasslands, sagebrush, and open woodlands, as well as in disturbed habitats and areas of secondary succession, such as old fields, roadsides, and ditches. Three varieties are recognized here, but their characterization is not completely satisfactory, e.g., plants of the southwestern United States with spikelets in the size range of var. glauca often have densely pubescent lemmas, the distinguishing characteristic of var. birtella.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Vulpia octoflora var. glauca is most frequent in southern Canada and the northern half of the United States, and is the most common representative of V. octoflora from North Dakota to western Kansas, and east to Maine and Virginia.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
1. Spikelets usually 4-6.5 mm long; awn of the lowermost lemma in each spikelet 0.3-3 mm long | var. glauca |
1. Spikelets usually 5.5-13 mm long; awn of the lowermost lemma in each spikelet 2.5-9 mm long. | → 2 |
2. Lemmas scabrous to pubescent | var. hirtella |
2. Lemmas usually smooth, sometimes scabridulous distally and on the margins | var. octoflora |
- Local floras:
BC, 
CA, 
OR, 
WA - Local Web sites: CalFlora, CalPhotos,
Flora NW, 
Go Botany, 
IL Wildflowers, 
KS Wildflowers, 
LA Plants, 
MD Biodiversity, 
MI Flora, 
MN Wildflowers, 
MO Plants, 
PNW Herbaria 
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist (observations)
USDA Plants Database- LBJ Wildflower Center
- SEINet
- Plants of the World Online
- Encyclopedia of Life
- Wikipedia
- Google Image Search
- Local Web sites: CalFlora, CalPhotos, Flora NW, IL Wildflowers, KS Wildflowers, LA Plants, MD Biodiversity, MI Flora, MN Wildflowers, MO Plants, PNW Herbaria
- WildflowerSearch
- iNaturalist (observations)
- USDA Plants Database
- LBJ Wildflower Center
- SEINet
- Plants of the World Online
- Encyclopedia of Life
- Wikipedia
- Google Image Search
