Indian Ricegrass
Achnatherum hymenoides
A delicate, airy bunchgrass whose open, beaded flower clouds shimmer over the driest sands, stabilizing desert dunes as it goes. The seed was a staple grain for desert tribes before corn arrived, parched to loosen its hairs and ground into meal.
- Family
- Poaceae
- Type
- grass
- Lifespan
- perennial
- Height
- 2–2 ft
- Spacing
- 1–1.5 ft apart
- Light
- sun
- Soil moisture
- moist
- Soil pH
- neutral, alkaline
- Bloom
- June, July, August, September
- Bloom colors
- yellow, green
- Wildlife value
- songbirds, butterflies, larval host
- Landscape uses
- border, container, naturalizing
- Native states
- AR, AZ, CA, CO, ID, KS, MN, MO, MT, ND, NE, NM, NV, OK, OR, SD, TX, UT, WA, WI, WY