An Illustrated Guide to ARIZONA WEEDS
The University of Arizona Press
SIXWEEKS NEEDLE GRAMA, needle grama
SIXWEEKS NEEDLE GRAMA-Bouteloua aristidoides (H. B. K.) Griseb.
DESCRIPTION-A low, delicate, short lived summer annual, reproducing by seeds. The slender stems are 3 to 12 or more inches high, from a weak shallow root. The leaves are thin, few, 3 to 6 inches long, and about 1/12 inch broad.
There are 4 to 15 (rarely 20) flower spikes, very narrow below, with the base sharp pointed and the top spreading, 3/8 to 3/4 inch long. They are very loosely attached along one side of the stem, and drop off easily. There are 3 short bristles, about 1/5 inch long, from the tip of 1 or more of the flowering bracts in each spike. The narrow flattened grain is brownish, and about 1/8 inch long.
DISTRIBUTION-Sixweeks needle grama is a native grass which has become weedy. It is found in the same habitat types throughout Arizona, except in the northeastern part. On denuded areas after the start of the summer rains it some- times occurs in dense stands; 100 to 5,000 feet elevation, but mostly lower than 5,500 feet; flowering from June to October.
Copyright (c) 1972 The Arizona Board of Regents