Dasyochloa is a monotypic genus containing the single species Dasyochloa pulchella[1] (formerly Erioneuron pulchellum),[2] known as desert fluff-grass or low woollygrass[citation needed], a densely tufted perennial grass found in the deserts of the southwestern United States and northern Mexico.[3]

Dasyochloa
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Clade: Commelinids
Order: Poales
Family: Poaceae
Subfamily: Chloridoideae
Tribe: Cynodonteae
Subtribe: Scleropogoninae
Genus: Dasyochloa
Willd. ex Rydb.
Species:
D. pulchella
Binomial name
Dasyochloa pulchella
(Kunth) Willd. ex Rydb.
Synonyms

Erioneuron pulchellum
Tridens pulchellus
Triodia pulchella

Range and habitat

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It is native to the Southwestern United States, California, and northern to central Mexico, where it grows in dry regions such as deserts.

Growth pattern

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It is a perennial bunchgrass forming small tufts just a few centimeters high with clumps of short, sharp-pointed leaves. The tufts are often enveloped in masses of cottony fibers; these are actually hairlike strands of excreted and evaporated mineral salts.[1]

Stems and leaves

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The leaves produce soft, cob-webby hairs that dissolve in water, after summer rains.[3] The hairs are typically not present in spring.[3] Numerous hairless, wiry, stems are 2–5 inches (5–13 cm) tall.[3]

Inflorescence

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The hairy inflorescence is a spikelet on the end of the stem, surrounded by a bundle of bractlike leaves, and is 1/4" to 1/2" long.[3] The spikelets which are pale in color, sometimes striped with red, purple, or green.[citation needed] It blooms from February to May.[3]

References

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  1. ^ a b Grass Manual Treatment Archived 2011-06-11 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ Mojave Desert Wildflowers, Pam Mackay, 2nd Ed. 2013, p. 314
  3. ^ a b c d e f Mojave Desert Wildflowers, Pam Mackay, 2nd Ed. 2013, p. 283
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