Puccinellia nuttalliana (Schult.) Hitchc.
Nuttall's alkaligrass
Poaceae (Grass family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
Nuttall's alkaligrass
Poaceae (Grass family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
Species Information
General:
Perennial, tufted grass from fibrous roots; stems (30) 40-80 (100) cm tall.
Leaves:
Sheaths open; blades becoming in-rolled, 1-2.5 (3) mm wide; ligules rounded to pointed, usually sparsely short-hairy and rough externally, 1-3 mm long.
Flowers:
Inflorescence a narrow panicle, 6-20 cm long, the branches rough, ultimately spreading (ascending), the lower branches of fruiting inflorescences ascending to spreading, sometimes reflexed; spikelets (3-) 4- to 7-flowered, the stalks usually uniformly rough; glumes sparsely more or less fringed with fine hairs toward the tips, the lower ones about 1.3-2 mm long, the upper ones mostly 1.5-2.5 mm long; rachilla joints slightly over 1 mm long; lemmas sparsely short-hairy near the base, (2) 2.5-3.2 mm long, abruptly narrowed to rounded tips that are slightly more or less fringed with fine hairs, the margins entire below, roughly sharp-toothed near the tips, paleas nearly equal to the lemmas; lodicules about 0.5 mm long; anthers 0.7-1 (1.2) mm long.
Notes:
Many variants have been recognized in this complex on the basis of anther length, inflorescence branching pattern and other characters, but additional research is required before recognition of additional species is justified. The variant forms appear to be merely weakly differentiated races connected to one another through intermediate forms.
Illustration
If more than one illustration is available for a species (e.g., separate illustrations were provided for two subspecies) then links to the separate images will be provided below. Note that individual subspecies or varietal illustrations are not always available.
Illustration Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia
USDA Species Characteristics
Flower Colour:
Yellow
Blooming Period:
Late Spring
Fruit/Seed characteristics:
Colour: Brown
Present over the Summer
Source: The USDA
Ecology
Ecological Framework for Puccinellia nuttalliana
The table below shows the species-specific information calculated from
original data (BEC database) provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and Range.
(Updated August, 2013)
The table below shows the species-specific information calculated from
original data (BEC database) provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and Range.
(Updated August, 2013)
| Site Information |
Value / Class |
||
|
Avg |
Min |
Max |
|
| Elevation
(metres) |
917 | 477 | 1500 |
| Slope
Gradient (%) |
1 | 0 | 15 |
|
Aspect (degrees) |
134 | 50 | 350 |
| Soil
Moisture Regime (SMR) [0 - very xeric; 4 - mesic; 8 - hydric] |
5 | 3 | 8 |
| Modal
Nutrient Regime
Class |
E | ||
| #
of field plots species was recorded in: |
94 | ||
| Modal
BEC Zone Class |
IDF | ||
|
All BEC Zones (# of stations/zone) species was recorded in |
BG(6), BWBS(4), ESSF(1), ICH(1), IDF(58), MS(1), PP(16), SBPS(4), SBS(3) | ||
|
Source:
Klinkenberg 2013
|
|||
Habitat and Range
Moist to wet (sometimes ephemeral), usually saline or alkaline meadows, ditches and shorelines in the lowland, steppe and montane zones; frequent in BC east of the Coast-Cascade Mountains, rare in coastal BC; N to AK, YT and NT, E to PQ and NB and S to ME, VT, WI, MN, NE, TX, NM, AZ and CA.Status Information
Synonyms
Synonyms and Alternate Names:
Puccinellia agrostidea T.J. Sørensen
Puccinellia airoides (Nutt.) S. Watson & J.M. Coult.
Puccinellia borealis
Puccinellia cusickii Weath.
Puccinellia deschampsioides T.J. Sørensen
Puccinellia interior T.J. Sørensen