Description: This native perennial grass is about 1-2' tall and usually tufted at the base, otherwise it is unbranched. The culms are light green to reddish green, terete, and glabrous. Alternate leaves are produced sparingly along each culm. The leaf blades are up to 4" long and 1/5" (5 mm.) across; they are light green to pale bluish green, hairless, and erect to slightly spreading. The leaf sheaths are light green to pale reddish green, hairless, and finely ribbed.
Each culm terminates in a nodding spike
about 2½–4" long. Because of the spreading awns of its spikelets,
the spike is nearly as broad as long. The spike is light green, often with
reddish or purplish tints, and its appearance is silky and glistening. The
spikelets are densely distributed along the length of each spike. Each spikelet
consists of a central lemma with a pair of awn-like glumes and 2 lateral lemmas
on short pedicels. The central lemma is fertile, narrowly lanceolate, and about
¼" long; it has an awn about 1–2¼" long. The awn-like glumes
are arranged in front of the central lemma; they are about 1–2½" in
length. The lateral lemmas are sterile; each lateral lemma is reduced to 1-3
awns about 1–2½" in length. The flower of each fertile lemma has 3
stamens and a pair of plumose stigmas. The blooming period occurs during early
to mid-summer (rarely into the fall). Afterwards, the flowering spikes become
light tan; the fertile lemma of each spikelet produces a single grain. The
spikelets become detached from their culms and are blown about by the wind,
which helps to distribute the grains into new areas. The root system is
fibrous. This grass spreads by reseeding itself. It often forms small colonies
at suitable locations.
Cultivation: The
preference is full sun and moist to dry conditions. Different kinds of soil are
tolerated – from muddy soil to dry gravelly soil. This grass has a high
tolerance of salt. It will not tolerate much competition from taller
vegetation.
Range & Habitat:
Squirrel Tail is quite common in northern and central Illinois, while in the
southern part of the state it is less common or absent (see
Distribution
Map). Habitats include edges of marshes, muddy borders of puddles, poorly
drained fields, pastures, vacant lots with compacted soil, gravelly areas along
roads and railroads, mined land, and sterile waste areas. This grass is
typically found in disturbed sunny areas with scant vegetation.
Faunal Associations: Little information is available
about floral-faunal relationships for this species. The long awns of the
flowering spikes can injure the eyes, mouthparts, nostrils, and digestive tract
of grazing animals.
Photographic
Location: A gravelly area along a railroad in Champaign,
Illinois.
Comments: During early
summer, this attractive grass can be found along interstate highways for mile
after mile. It tolerates road salt and adapts readily to the dry gravelly
conditions of the roadside. The long-awned nodding spikes move gracefully in
the wind. Squirrel Tail would be grown as an ornamental grass, except that is
rather common and weedy. It is easily distinguished from other Hordeum
spp. (Barleys) by its nodding spikes and their long awns (greater than 1"
in length). Other Barleys, whether native or introduced, have shorter awns and
their flowering spikes are often erect. Another common name of Hordeum
jubatum is Foxtail Barley.