Achnatherum parishii
Encyclopedia
Achnatherum parishii is a species of grass
Poaceae
The Poaceae is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of flowering plants. Members of this family are commonly called grasses, although the term "grass" is also applied to plants that are not in the Poaceae lineage, including the rushes and sedges...

 known by the common name Parish's needlegrass. It is native to western North America from California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

 and Baja California
Baja California
Baja California officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is both the northernmost and westernmost state of Mexico. Before becoming a state in 1953, the area was known as the North...

 to Utah
Utah
Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...

, where it grows in many types of habitat, especially dry areas. This is a perennial bunch grass which forms tight tufts of erect stems up to about 80 centimeters tall. The inflorescence
Inflorescence
An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Strictly, it is the part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed and which is accordingly modified...

 is up to 15 centimeters long and packed with densely hairy spikelets. Each spikelet has an awn up to about 3.5 centimeters long. It has a single kink in it, whereas the awns of many other Achnatherum
Achnatherum
Achnatherum is a genus of plants which includes several species of needlegrass. Several needlegrass species have been switched between Achnatherum and genus Stipa; taxonomy between the two closely related genera is still uncertain....

species have two kinks.

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