WESTERN WHEATGRASS--Pascopyrum smithii (Agropyron smithii, Elytrigia smithii)
Description:  Western wheatgrass is a cool-season, perennial sod-forming grass with strong rhizomes.  Spikes 1 to 6 inches long are elevated on stiff flowering culms 12 to 30 inches tall.  Spikelets are usually single at spike nodes, but there can be 2 per node on vigorous plants with ample moisture.  Leaves are stiff, strongly ribbed on the upper surface, glabrous, flat when growing, and rolled when dry.  Clasping auricles are often purple.  Stems and leaves are distinctively glaucous, as in intermediate wheatgrass.

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Distribution, habitat:  This native is mostly absent from East Coast and Gulf Coast states.  It is a major range grass in the northern and central Great Plains, frequently in nearly pure stands on clayey soils, although it does grow on sandy soils.  It is moderately alkali tolerant.  It is the most abundant grass in most of South Dakota mixed prairie.
Comments:  Legislative action in 1970 designated western wheatgrass the state grass of South Dakota, an honor it shares in North Dakota and Wyoming.  It is a common associate of grama grass and needlegrass.  It is palatable and nutritious when growing and moderately so the rest of the year.  It is used as a hay crop during high precipitation years or when supplemental water is available.  Grazing abuse, especially in spring, will decrease its abundance, but it can recolonize in areas previously occupied after drought and/or overgrazing.  It is considered a decreaser in areas with less than about 17 inches of precipitation, but it can temporarily invade stressed tallgrass communities.  'Rodan,' 'Rosana,' and 'Flintlock' are adapted varieties.  Western wheatgrass is used by elk, antelope, and deer.  Grouse nest in western wheatgrass communities.  Grouse, pheasants, and songbirds feed on its seeds as do jackrabbits and cottontails.  Voles use both plant and seed.

Picture and information can be found on pages 50 and 51 of Grassland Plants of South Dakota and the Northern Great Plains, by James R. Johnson and Gary E. Larson.  Published in 1999 by South Dakota State University, Brookings, SD.