Until very recently this species has customarily been regarded as two sepa- 

 rate species, viz, typical slender wheatgrass (A. tenerum) and violet wheatgrass 

 (A. violaceum of U. S. authors, not (Hornem.) Lange) one, the tall, slender 

 form, usually found at lower elevations, having a narrow, mostly elongated, 

 green flower head (spike), the individual flower groups (spikelets) separated; 

 the other, the chunky, thick-stalked form, mostly subalpine, with a dense and 

 pudgy, shortened, violet-hued spike, with plump, overlapping, and crowded 

 spikelets. However, all possible intergradations between these two forms are 

 known to occur. Moreover, true A. violaceum appears to be a wholly Old 

 World wheatgrass, specifically distinct from the American grass called by that 

 name. A. paucifyorum is an older name than A. tenerum, which is one of its 

 synonyms. These considerations have led to the adoption of the nomenclatural 

 change indicated. 2 



Slender wheatgrass is a perennial bunchgrass with erect, slender to stout 

 stems from one-half foot to 4 feet high. It is the most widely distributed of 

 our native wheatgrasses, ranging from Newfoundland to Alaska, and south 

 to Missouri, Kansas, New Mexico, and California. The species makes its best 

 growth in moderately moist, well-drained, light sandy-loam soils, but is some- 

 what tolerant of alkali, moderately drought-enduring, and is more common 

 than any other wheatgrass in dry mountain meadows. It is typical of river 

 bottoms, mountain valleys and meadows, and open timberlands up through 

 the ponderosa pine, aspen, lodgepole pine, and Engelmann spruce belts to 

 timber line and sometimes even up to the higher 1 alpine meadow sites at about 

 12,000 feet elevation, especially in the southern part of its range. 



Slender wheatgrass is one of the most palatable of the true wheatgrasses 

 and is highly palatable to all classes of livestock ; it is also very nutritious. 

 Growth starts early in the spring, and the plants remain green and palatable 

 until late in the fall. The entire plant is cropped throughout the growing 

 season by both cattle and horses, although late in the season the flower stalks 

 are not eaten so close to the ground as are the basal leaf blades. Sheep are 

 fond of the flower and seed heads. The seed, when mixed with more succulent 

 feed, produces hard, substantial fat on sheep. Slender wheatgrass is probably 

 more widely distributed in native hay meadows than any other wheatgrass. 



Except for the vegetative enlargement of the bunches by tillering, slender 

 wheatgrass reproduces entirely by seed, and a large seed crop of good viability 

 is usually produced. The seed is matured from June through September, de- 

 pending upon the latitude or elevation. Commercial seed of this species is 

 usually available. In fact, this is the only native wheatgrass, and almost 

 the only native grass of any sort, which has been extensively cultivated. The 

 forage value and wide distribution of this species, and the comparative ease 

 with which it may be established, indicate that it has great possibilities for 

 future range improvement if an adequate seed supply can be made available at 

 low cost. 3 Complaint has occasionally been made that the use of slender 

 wheatgrass in artificial reseeding of depleted range lands has been only mod- 

 erately successful. Failure, in some cases at least, to get the seed in adequate 

 contact with the soil explains certain of these unsatisfactory results. This 

 seed is large and needs to be worked into the ground. This normally is 

 effected on the range after seed dispersal by the trampling of grazing animals. 

 Slender wheatgrass probably is the best perennial grass adaptable for western 

 dry-land conditions, with the exception of smooth brome, and, in some places, 

 crested wheatgrass. Slender wheatgrass is extensively cultivated in the north- 

 ern Great Plains for hay and pasturage. 4 



Although it does not withstand heavy grazing as well as those species of 

 wheatgrass which reproduce by rootstocks, it will endure a reasonable amount of 

 grazing and trampling. 



s Hitchcock, A. S. NEW SPECIES, AND CHANGES IN NOMENCLATURE, OF GRASSES OF THE 

 UNITED STATES. Amer. Jour. Bot. 21(3) : 127-139. illus. 1934. 



Forsling, C. L., and Dayton, W. A. ARTIFICIAL RESEEDING ON WESTERN MOUNTAIN 

 RANGE LANDS. U. S. Dept. Agr. Circ. 178, 48 pp., illus. 1931. 



4 Piper, C. V. CULTIVATED GRASSES OF SECONDARY IMPORTANCE. U. S. Dept. Agr. 

 Farmers' Bull. 1433, 42 pp., illus. 1925. 



