Sandhills Plant Identification

Warm Season Grasses

• Prairie sandreed
• Sand dropseed
• Sand bluestem
• Sand lovegrass
• Switchgrass
• Blue grama
• Hairy grama
• Little bluestem
• Sandhill muhly

Cool Season Grasses

• Needleandthread
• Prairie junegrass
• Six weeks fescue
• Western wheatgrass
• Reed canarygrass

Forbs

• Riddell groundsel
• Western ragweed
• Cudweed sagewort
• Stiff sunflower

Grasslike

• Rush
• Sedge

Plant A Characteristics:

• "Frosty" Forb
• Perennial
• Silver, gray leaves covered with wooly hairs
• Strong smell when leaves are crushed
• Medium/fair forage value
• Small round, gray seeds will appear in fall
• Edge of leaf is toothed near the tip

Plant B Characteristics:

• Leaves come out at base in 3's
• Bright green color
• No nodes
• Stem is triangle shaped
• Rubbery feel to leaves

• A.  Cudweed sagewort (remember wort=Latin for leaf, "sage in the leaf" or strong sage smell when crushed)
• B.  Sedge

Plant C Characteristics:

• Warm season grass
• Flag leaf
• Perennial
• Ring of hairs all around collar of the plant
• When mature, some seedheads will be partially enclosed by leaf
• Found in overgrazed or "go-back" land
• Fair/medium forage value

 Plant D Characteristics:

• Cool season grass
• Perennial, rhizomes
• Grows in wetter areas
• Broad leaf
• Small ligule
• No hairs on leaves

• C. Sand dropseed
• D. Reed canarygrass

Plant E Characteristics:

• Cool season grass
• Perennial
• Fleshy, deeply veined leaves
• Seedheads out in June
• Seedheads compact and brown in late summer
• Good forage value
• Bunch grass
• Low forage production

• Warm season grass

• Rhizome
• "Hairy armpits"- triangle patch of hair at the base of the leaf
• Round seeds on large, branching seedheads
• Good forage value
• High forage production

• E. Prairie junegrass
• F.  Switchgrass

Plant G Characteristics:

• Short grass with good forage value
• Warm season
• Bunch grass
• Grows on hills/sandy areas
• "Eyebrow" seedhead
• Spike on end of seed head
• Long hairs on edge of leaves

• Short grass with good forage value

• Warm season
• Bunch grass
• Grows in bottoms/better soils
• "Eyebrow" seedhead, no spike on end of seedhead
• Small tuft of hair at throat of collar
• In the fall, dead grass looks like curly spaghetti

• G. Hairy grama
• H. Blue grama

Plant I Characteristics:

• Forb
• Perennial
• POISONOUS
• Fleshy, deeply serrated leaves
• Yellow daisy-like flowers in the fall
• Numerous stems from a woody base

 Plant J Characteristics:

• Cool season grass
• Perennial
• Rhizomes
• Blue-gray color
• Deep veins on leaves
• Rough leaves
• Wheat seedhead
• Auricles at base of leaves
• Moderate forage value

• I. Riddell groundsel
• J. Western wheatgrass

 Plant K Characteristics:

• Round, pithy leaves and stems
• No joints or nodes
• Grows in wetter areas
• "Bedhead" seadhead

Plant L Characteristics:

• Cool season grass
• Bunch grass
• Long ligule- "rabbit ears"
• Seeds have spike and long thread
• Good forage value in spring, lower value in summer
• Leaf blade often rolls tightly in heat, keeping moisture from escaping the leaf

• K.  Rush
• L.  Needleandthread

 Plant M Characteristics:

• Warm season grass
• Rhizomes
• Perennial
• Long tapering leaves
• Hair on sheath and collar
• Dark on back side of leaf at collar
• White lines on outside of leaves
• Flat 2D shape
• Tall grass, whitish seedhead
• Excellent forage value

 Plant N Characteristics:

• Forb
• Perennial
• Low forage value
• Large, serrated leaves
• Round seeds develop in fall at top of plant
• May cause allergies from pollen
• Seeds are good forage for wildlife- birds, grouse, turkey, and deer
• Rhizomatous
• Leaf surface covered with short stiff hairs

• M.  Prairie sandreed
• N.  Western ragweed

Plant O Characteristics:

• Warm season grass
• Rhizomes
• Grows in poor soils and blowouts
• Older plants may grow in a ring
• Spiky, course grass
• Poor forage value
• Reddish seedhead

Plant P Characteristics:

• Forb
• Perennial
• Good forage value
• Rough leaves
• One yellow sunflower per stalk
• Leaves in pairs across from stem

• O.  Sandhill muhly
• P.  Stiff sunflower

Plant Q Characteristics:

• Bright green color- "Kermit the Frog" Green
• Warm season
• Bunch grass
• Long, tender leaves
• Some hair at collar
• Long seedhead with flat seeds
• Could be confused with sedge, which also has a bright green color. Sedges do not have hair at the collar.

Plant R Characteristics:

• Annual grass, pulls out easily
• Cool season
• Bright green in early spring
• Little leaf material
• Seedhead similar to Kentucky bluegrass
• Once mature, turns a reddish brown color

• Q.  Sand lovegrass
• R.  Six weeks fescue

Plant S Characteristics:

• Tall, warm season grass
• Perennial
• Rhizomes
• Light blue-gray color (a wax that covers the leaves can be rubbed off)
• Begins growing out at a 45 degree angle
• "Turkey track" seedhead
• Gold hair on mature seedhead
• Found in uplands

 Plant T Characteristics:

• Warm season
• Bunch grass
• Leaves are flat at base
• Blue-gray colored leaves that turn reddish-brown after frost
• Excellent grazing when immature
• Grazing decreases when seedheads are produced (cows don't want to stick their nose in a pokey seedhead and will graze around the base of the plant)

• S.  Sand bluestem
• T.  Little bluestem