FNA 2007, Field Guide to Forest & Mtn. Plants of N AZ 2009, Utah Flora 1983; Ann. Checklist GCNP 1987
Common Name: tufted hairgrass Duration: Perennial Nativity: Native Lifeform: Graminoid General: Widespread densely to loosely clumped slender cool season bunchgrass with stems to 150 cm tall and a loosely branched, open panicle with 2 florets per spikelet. Vegetative: Blades mostly basal, 5-30 cm long, 1-4 mm wide, some flat but most rolled with a 1 mm diameter; adaxial surfaces with 5-11 ribs; stems erect, 35-150 cm tall; mostly scabrous; ligules 3-8 mm long,narrow, often with an irregularly toothed margin. Inflorescence: Panicles 8-30 cm long, usually open and pyramid-shaped, sometimes narrowly elongate, often nodding; branches straight and hair-like; spikelets 2-7 mm long, narrowly oblong, laterally compressed, usually bisexual with 2 florets, silver colored with a purple tinge; glumes 3-7 mm long, 1-3 veined, lanceolate; lemmas 2-5 mm, thin,smooth, and shiny, usually with awns 1-8 mm long arising at the middle or lower end of the glume; awns either straight or bent and sometimes longer than glumes; anthers 1-3 mm long. Ecology: Found in wet meadows and in sand and gravel along rivers, streams and lakes at at 5000-13,000 ft. (1500-4000 m); flowers June-September. Distribution: Found in the western, northern, and northeastern United States. Notes: Is strongly polymorphic, with the overlapping diagnostic features within different subspecies in the United States. Differentiated from D. sukatschewii by having basal blades with 5-11 ribs, vs 3-5 ribs. Differentiated from D. brevifolia by having spikelets that do not overlap and that are not in dense clusters. Prefers poorly drained soils. Provides forage for elk. Ethnobotany: Seeds used for food. Helpful in stabilizing disturbed sites. Good forage for sheep and cattle. Etymology: Deschampsia is named after the French botanist Louis Auguste Deschamps, who lived from 1766-1842, while caespitosa means having densely clumped or tufted growth. Editor: LKearsley, 2012