It is abundant in parts of Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, and eastern Oregon and 

 Washington, often forming stands up to about a 60-percent ground cover. 



Because of its extensive distribution, abundance especially on sites too dry 

 for most of the more palatable grasses and weeds and its high palatability, 

 bluebunch wheatgrass is one of the leading native western forages, and is 

 a key species on many ranges. Where abundant it frequently constitutes the 

 bulk of the spring, fall, and early winter range forage as well as a goodly 

 part of the summer grass forage of ranges within the ponderous pine belt. 

 The Northwest regards it as its most important indigenous grass. Its palata- 

 bility is very good or even excellent for cattle, horses, and sheep, except 

 where it has not been graced for a year or two so that the old growth near 

 the ground is rank and tough. Sheep then leave it for more tender herbage. 

 This stem wiriness and the rather troublesome awns are the chief drawbacks 

 of "bluebunch" as a forage plant. Its leafiness enables it to produce a large 

 amount of forage per plant. The leafage remains green throughout the 

 grazing season and is nutritious and palatable after growth ceases. At lower 

 elevations, unless conditions are too dry, a fair amount of good seed matures 

 but in the higher and drier portions of its range seed stalks are put forth 

 irregularly and relatively late in the season and normally only a small amount 

 of seed, of low viability, is produced. 



Bluebunch wheatgrass withstands proper grazing well, but new plants are 

 established entirely from seed and it is essential, if this species is to maintain 

 itself, that opportunity be afforded for the early seed to mature. Deferred 

 grazing works well with this species and the trampling by grazing animals 

 after seed has fallen materially assists in planting the seed. On millions of 

 acres of range land where unrestricted grazing has obtained "bluebunch" has 

 succumbed to overstocking and too early grazing. It has practically dis- 

 appeared from much of the wheatgrass-sagebrush type, where such abuse has 

 prevailed, being largely replaced by such annuals as downy chess. Because 

 of its great value as a forage plant successful effort is often made to increase 

 this species on ranges where it naturally occurs, through observance of good 

 range management principles, supplemented occasionally by artificial reseed- 

 ing. Attempts to extend its range to other areas, however, have usually failed. 



Bluebunch wheatgrass is a favorite forage species with elk, and is- grazed 

 extensively by them. On bison range in Montana it is not grazed in summer 

 but is utilized as a winter feed. This natural selection permits "bluebunch" 

 to seed and maintain itself on bison range. 



Bluebunch wheatgrass- has numerous, smooth, rather short leaves and 

 slender, bearded heads 2 to 8 inches long. The spikelets are narrow, relatively 

 long, erect or spreading, and placed rather far apart. The flowering scales 

 (lemmas) are slightly longer than the glumes beneath them and bear con- 

 spicuous, typically stout beards (awns). 



For a number of years the descriptions of Agropyron spioatwn were thought 

 by many botanists to apply to bluestem (A. smithii). As a consequence notes 

 on A. spioatum in some of the older writings apply to bluestem rather than to 

 bluebunch wheatgrass. 



Beardless wheatgrass (A. inermc, syn. A. spicatum inefme), sometimes 

 called beardless (or awnless) bluebunch wheatgrass, is very closely related 

 botanically to bluebunch wheatgrass and by many botanists is regarded as a 

 variety of it. It is similar in appearance to "bluebunch" except that beardless 

 wheatgrass, as both its English and scientific names imply, has no beards 

 (awns). Its stems tend to be more slender and tufted and its leaves nar- 

 rower and more tightly rolled than those of "bluebunch." It is not quite so 

 widely distributed as bluebunch wheatgrass, ranging from British Columbia 

 to Oregon, Utah, and western Montana, but has approximately the same habi- 

 tat, and similar forage values except that A. inerme is generally less- abundant 

 than A. spicatum, and the absence of awns improves its palatability later in 

 the season. However, in the Great Basin beardless wheatgrass is a very 

 important range plant, known locally as Great Basin wheatgrass. 



Toward the southern portion of its range, at least, beardless wheatgrass, 

 as does its relative bluebunch wheatgrass, matures relatively early, drying up 

 during the dry summer season. However, when the fall rains start these 

 grasses green up promptly and provide excellent fall grazing. 



