Description: This native perennial grass forms a
tight tuft of culms and leaves about ½–1½' tall. The culms
are light green, terete, and glabrous to finely pubescent. The alternate leaves
are located mostly along the lower half of each culm. The leaf blades are up to
1/8" across (3 mm.) and 6" long; they are medium green to greyish blue, flat to
somewhat involute (rolled inward), and slightly pubescent to hairless. The leaf
sheaths are similar in color to the leaf blades and usually pubescent. There
are remnants of dried leaves surrounding the base of each tufted plant; these
dried leaves are light grey or straw-colored. Each culm terminates in a
spike-like panicle of florets about 3-6" long. This panicle is initially light
to medium green, but it later becomes light
tan to brown. The branches of this panicle
are up to 1" long and appressed to ascending; they subdivide into branchlets
with terminal spikelets. Each spikelet is 5-6 mm. long and flattened; it
consists of a pair of glumes at the bottom and 1 or 2 pairs of lemmas. Each
lemma has a palea that encloses a single perfect floret. The glumes and lemmas
are ovate-lanceolate, keeled, and hairless. The lemmas and larger glume are 4-5
mm. long, while the smaller glume is 3-4 mm. long. The blooming period occurs
during the late spring or early summer (hence the common name of the species).
The florets are wind-pollinated. After the grains ripen, disarticulation is
above the glumes. The root system is fibrous. June Grass normally occurs in
scattered clumps.
Cultivation: In
Illinois, this grass is typically found on dry sandy ground where it is sunny.
It will tolerate more fertile soil if competition from taller plants is reduced
or eliminated. Under the preceding conditions, either level ground or slopes
provide acceptable locations. Because of the C3 metabolism of this cool-season
grass, most vegetative growth and development occurs during the spring and
early summer.
Range & Habitat:
June Grass occurs occasionally in sandy areas of Illinois (particularly in the
northern and western sections of the state); it is uncommon or absent elsewhere
(see
Distribution
Map). Habitats include dry sand prairies, hill prairies, sandy savannas,
and limestone glades. This conservative species is typically found in higher
quality natural areas. Sometimes it is used in prairie
restorations.
Faunal Associations:
June Grass is one of the food plants of several grass-eating grasshoppers
(particularly those species that prefer dry habitats with sparse vegetation).
These species include Arphia pseudonietana (Red-Winged Grasshopper),
Eritettix simplex (Velvet-Striped Grasshopper), Orphuella
speciosa (Slantfaced Pasture Grasshopper), Phoetaliotes nebrascensis
(Large-Headed Grasshopper), and Spharagemon collare (Mottled Sand
Grasshopper). Leafhoppers that use June Grass as a food plant include
Auridius helvus, Balclutha neglecta, Laevicephalus pravus,
and Rosenus cruciatus. The oligophagous weevil Apion perforicolle
also feeds on this grass. Among vertebrate animals, the foliage of June Grass
is palatable to hoofed mammalian herbivores, including elk, deer, horses, and
cattle. However, because this grass is short in stature and rarely forms dense
stands, it can provide only a minor component of the diet of these
animals.
Photographic
Location: A wildflower garden of the webmaster in Urbana,
Illinois.
Comments: If other prairie
grasses are too tall for your tastes, this is one grass species to consider. It
isn't very aggressive and greens up earlier in the year than Schizachyrium
scoparium (Little Bluestem) and other warm-season prairie grasses. June
Grass is the only species in its genus that occurs in the Midwest and it is
fairly unique. Considering the size of this grass, its inflorescence is rather
large and stout. There is some variability across local populations in the
color and hairiness of the foliage; the color of the inflorescence can be
variable as well. June Grass is more typical of the mixed-grass prairie of the
Northern Plains than the tall-grass prairie in Illinois. An older scientific
name of this species is Koeleria cristata.