Page 21 - Native Seeds Catalog Flip Book

Bristlegrass, Plains
(Setaria macrostachya)
Bristlegrass is a native, warm season peren- nial and a densely upright bunch grass.
It has light green, tender leaves that are from two to six inches long, often folded and rough on the back. Stems often bend abruptly at the nodes. The panicle is slim, bristly and narrowed at the top. Bristlegrass has narrow, spike-like seed heads that resemble a small cattail millet head. Ease of germination makes it a favorite on recla- mation sites to stabilize the soil until other natives have time to establish.
Drought and heat resistant, it grows in areas receiving as little as twelve inches an- nual rainfall, and in south and west Texas it has some green leaves almost all winter. It grows in open dry ground and under protection of brush in overgrazed areas.
It is most often found in low areas where moisture is plentiful.
Plains Bristlegrass is moderately to highly palatable to all livestock, particularly the tender basal leaves. Planted at a rate of
3 pure live seed pounds per acre, 1⁄4 to 1⁄2 inch deep. The rough seed can be easily planted through a regular grass drill. Plains bristlegrass is widely adapted in climate and soils. It grows on deep or shallow sandy to clay soils over most of the southwestern United States. Bristlegrass is used primarily in blends and preferred by wildlife enthu- siasts for bird seed and habitat, as well as forage for deer.