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Species Image Gallery (opens in a new window) |
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| THE GRASS FAMILY | |||||||||
| The grass family is economically
and ecologically important. Many of the world’s crops are products
of the grasses. In addition, grasses are represented in almost all terrestrial
ecosystems and are an important part of the natural food chain. The grasses have a set of structures unique to the family. These plants can be annual or perennial and are usually herbaceous. The roots are fibrous, but rhizomes or runners may be found in some species. The stems are solitary or tufted, and may be branched. The stems are round with hollow internodes and solid nodes. The leaves are basal or on the stem. The stem leaves are 2-ranked, meaning they are in two vertical rows and are sheathing at the base. A ligule is present where the leaf sheath and the blade meet. The florets are in spikelets which are then arranged into clusters called spikes, racemes, or panicles. The spikelets usually have two glumes at the base and may be one to several-flowered. Sometimes there are sterile florets, which may consist only of the palea and lemma, present above or below the fertile florets. The florets are usually perfect, meaning that they have both male and female parts. The lemma and palea are the two bracts that subtend each floret. The lemma may be awnless or awned from the tip or the back. Each fertile floret has between one and three stamens and one superior ovary with a feathery stigma. The fruit type is a caryopsis or grain and is unique to the grass family. |
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| YELLOW INDIAN-GRASS | |||||||||
| LATIN NAME: Sorghastrum nutans | |||||||||
| WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE? | |||||||||
| Yellow Indian-grass grows to over 2 m tall from fibrous roots and scaly rhizomes. The stems are loosely tufted and are hairless between the leaves. The leaves are up to 70 cm long but are only up to 4 mm wide. The leaves are dull to bluish-green and are usually hairless. The flowers are in a contracted, yellowish to brownish, branched cluster. The spikelets contain one fertile floret and a stalk for a second, sterile floret. The lower glumes are hairy and 7 to 9-veined while the upper glumes are hairless and 5-veined. The lemma awns are up to 2 cm long and are bent and twisted at the base. | |||||||||
| WHERE DOES IT GROW? | |||||||||
| Yellow Indian-grass grows in sandstone outcrops and on south-facing grassland slopes of river valley bluffs. | |||||||||
| WHERE IS IT FOUND IN SASKATCHEWAN? | |||||||||
| This plant is found in southeastern Saskatchewan in the Moist Mixed Grassland ecoregion. | |||||||||
| WHY IS IT RARE? | |||||||||
| Yellow Indian-grass is endangered because it is extremely rare in Saskatchewan and is restricted to a small area of the province. It is almost always locally sparse. Immediate or probable threats have been identified.. | |||||||||
| HOW TO IDENTIFY YELLOW INDIAN-GRASS | |||||||||
| * Do the spikelets contain one fertile floret and
a stalk for a second sterile floret? * Are the lemma awns bent and twisted at the base? * Are the inflorescences yellow or brownish? * Did you find in southeastern Saskatchewan? | |||||||||
| If you answered yes to all of these questions, you may have found yellow Indian-grass! | |||||||||
