Stem
- 0.5-2 ft. tall; slender; round in cross-section
Leaves
- 4-12 in. long, less than 0.12 in. wide; sometimes covered with short hairs; collar region usually has long hairs, auricles and a membranous ligule
Flower
- Seedhead is a spike, 0.5-2 in. long; awns are stiff, straight or twisted, barbed and up to 3 in. long; spikes often remain intact on dry plants through winter
Other
- Grows best on clay soils; primarily infests rangeland; known to occur in Churchill, Elko, Humboldt, Lyon, Pershing, and Washoe counties
- Annual; reproduces by seed; matures 2-4 weeks later than other annual grasses
- Unpalatable to grazing animals due to high levels of silica in the foliage and long, stiff awns
Control
- Tillage, mowing or grazing prior to seed set can reduce stands; burning has had mixed results; most effective with a hot, slow fire prior to seed maturity but after other species have dried-down; burning can also be used to reduce the thatch layer, which can increase the performance of soil-applied herbicides
- Apply imazapic, indaziflam, or sulfometuron preemergence or to small, actively growing plants; glyphosate to actively growing plants
Blecker, L., Creech, E., Dick, J., Gephart, S., Hefner, M., Kratsch, H., Moe, A., Schultz, B.
2020,
Nevada Noxious Weed Field Guide – Medusahead,
Extension, University of Nevada, Reno, Field Guide
