Know Your Grasses
FORAGE
WILDLIFE
AND
by
Chuck Coffey
[email protected]
and
Russell
Stevens
[email protected]
A
s natural resource managers, we must understand
what we manage, and plant identification is a key
component of that understanding. The ability to
identify plants allows us to assess many important rangeland
variables that are critical to proper management: range condition, proper stocking rates, forage production, wildlife habitat
quality, and rangeland trend (upward or downward). Resource
managers, especially those interested in grazing management,
often evaluate the presence or absence of many grass species as
the first step in assessing these variables.
Pictured below are numerous photographs of grasses common to our area. How many can you identify? (Answers are at
the bottom of page 2.) All photos by Stevens/Coffey.
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N E W S
V I E W S
N E W S
V I E W S
ANSWERS:
23. Texas grama
22. Tall dropseed
21. Switchgrass
20. Silver bluestem
19. Sideoats grama
18. Scribner's panicum
17. Sandbur
16. Purpletop
15. Purple threeawn
14. Plains lovegrass
13. Plains bluestem
12. Little bluestem
11. Knotroot bristlegrass
10. Johnsongrass
9. Indiangrass
8. Hairy grama
7. Dallisgrass
6. Carolina joint-tail
5. Buffalograss
4. Broomsedge bluestem
3. Blue grama
2. Big bluestem
1. Barnyardgrass
24. Tumble windmillgrass 25. Weeping lovegrass
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