Santa Fe Botanical Garden

Common name: sand dropseed, zacate de arena, zacate encubierto

Family: Poaceae (Grass)

Distribution: North America, Southern South America

Habitat: Rocky slopes, sandy hillsides, washes, mesas

Hardiness: USDA Zone 3 (-40 to -30 °F)

Life form: Grasses

Occurrence in New Mexico: New Mexico native plant

Growing Conditions: Sand dropseed is a widespread North American species, extending from Quebec to British Columbia and south, primarily east of the Cascades into Mexico, and including all of the eastern states except Florida. It is most abundant in the West. Disjunct populations exist in South America. It grows at elevations from sea level to about 9,000 feet. It grows in sandy soils and washes, on rocky slopes, calcareous ridges, and mesas, and along roadsides in salt-desert scrub, piñon-juniper or oak woodlands, yellow pine forests, arid plains and blue grama grasslands, and pastures. Sand dropseed adapts to most soils, but occurs most frequently on disturbed sandy soil. It grows in sun or part shade, and has low water needs. It is less preferred forage than other grasses on rangeland, and may become dominant in areas with heavy grazing. It usually grows in small clumps, establishes easily, and is useful for erosion control.

Description: Sand dropseed is somewhat variable, from sparsely leaved, single stems to multiple stems forming loose or dense clumps. The leaves arise from the base of the plant and from the stems, with basal leaves 6-10 (or more) inches long and stem leaves 3-6 inches long. The leaves are widest at the base and taper to a thread-like tip, may be flat or rolled (involute), and are rough along the edges due to minute teeth. The flag blades are nearly perpendicular to the culms (stems). The leaf sheath is smooth but has a dense fringe of hairs along the edge and tufts of long, white hairs at the tip. The influorescence is a panicle, up to 12 inches long, that is partly enclosed in a sheath. The enclosed part is contracted and cylindrical, and the exposed part is open, but narrowly pyramidal. There are often much smaller, fully enclosed panicles in the upper leaf axils. Panicle branchlets have several loosely overlapping spikelets, each with a single floret and no awns.