Description:
This native perennial grass is 2½–5' tall and little branched. The
erect central culm is green and terete (round in cross-section). The blades of
the alternate leaves are up to 12" long and 2/3" across; they are greyish green
to dark green, hairless, and rather floppy. The leaf sheaths are greyish green,
finely ribbed, hairless, and sometimes glaucous. The ligule at the junction of
the sheath and blade has a short papery membrane that eventually turns brown.
The nodes are swollen and often whitened. The central culm terminates in a
floral spike about 5-9" long; this spike is more or less erect. Pairs of
spikelets occur sparingly along the spike; during the blooming period, they are
perpendicular to the central stalk (or rachis) of the spike and widely
spreading. Each spikelet has 2-4 florets. Usually, there are no glumes,
although sometimes the lowest spikelets have glumes that are reduced to
bristles up to 2/3" long. The lemmas are about ½" long and their
straight awns are ½–1½" long. Each lemma is
lanceolate-linear, greyish green, and convex on the outer surface. The florets
of the lemmas have 3 white anthers and a pair of plumose stigmas. In the
typical variety of Bottlebrush Grass, the lemmas are hairless, however var.
bigeloviana has pubescent lemmas. The blooming period occurs during the
summer. Pollination is by wind. The spikelets easily detach from the central
stalk of the inflorescence and fall to the ground; they become straw-colored
with maturity. The seeds are long and narrow. The root system is fibrous. This
grass spreads primarily by reseeding itself; it often forms small colonies of
several plants.
Cultivation: The
preference is partial sunlight to light shade, moist to slightly dry
conditions, and soil that is loamy or rocky.