Indian ricegrass is widely distributed over the Western States, ranging from 

 British Columbia southward on the east side of the Cascade and Sierra Nevada 

 Mountains to southern California, and Mexico, and eastward to Texas, the 

 Dakotas, and Manitoba. This species is one of the most drought-enduring of 

 the native range grasses. It characteristically grows on dry sandy soils, some- 

 times even in sand dunes ; hence the local name sandgrass. This grass reaches 

 its highest development from the low-lying desert ranges up through the piilon- 

 juniper belt where it grows in association with black sagebrush (Artemisia 

 nova), blue grama (Bouteloua gracilis), galleta (Hilaria jamesii), and species 

 of wheatgrass, needlegrass, and three-awn. It is also commonly associated 

 with the two shrubby species, winterfat (Eurotia lanuta) and shadscale (Atri- 

 plex conferti folia) , which indicates that it is at least moderately tolerant to 

 alkaline conditions. This species is not confined to desert ranges, however, 

 as it also appears scatteringly on the higher grassy plains, in the wheatgrass 

 or sagebrush types on the foothills, exposed ridges, and dry sandy or rocky 

 mountain slopes. It has been collected at elevations ranging up to about 

 10,000 feet in Colorado, Utah, and New Mexico. At these higher elevations 

 it almost invariably occurs on dry, open, southerly exposures under full sunlight. 



This grass formerly grew abundantly over many of the desert ranges in the 

 West. It sometimes formed almost pure stands and old-timers tell how this 

 and associated grasses grew like fields of grain and furnished excellent graz- 

 ing throughout the winter. The early freighters found that Indian ricegrass 

 was the prevalent grass of the desert region of western Utah and valued it 

 highly as a forage plant. Over much of its range Indian ricegrass has largely 

 disappeared in the wake of destructive grazing but dead rootcrowns of this 

 grass found on the winter ranges give evidence of its former profusion. At 

 the present time, Indian ricegrass grows in abundance on some areas which 

 have been ungrazed or conservatively grazed because of inaccessibility to 

 livestock or because of their remoteness from watering places. It is now one 

 of the commonest and most important grasses on some of the semidesert lands 

 in the Columbia Basin in eastern Washington where it is locally called Quincy 

 grass. 



On winter range areas, Indian ricegrass is highly palatable to all classes of 

 livestock, being rated as good to very good for sheep as well as for cattle and 

 horses. The individual plants produce an abundance of herbage which cures 

 exceptionally well on the stalk and is very nutritious. The plump seeds aro 

 likewise high in food value and are sought after by grazing animals. Stock- 

 men regard this plant highly as a winter feed and seek out the prized areas 

 upon which it grows. They call it a "warm feed" because of its high value for 

 sustaining livestock during severe winter weather. Growth begins early in 

 the spring and the tender green leafage is eagerly eaten by livestock during 

 the early part of the growing season. Indian ricegrass is of only minor 

 importance on the mountainous summer ranges. This is due to its scattered 

 occurrence, relative scarcity, and the fact that it is usually not eaten so 

 readily on mountain grazing lands as on the arid winter ranges. On the 

 former it is generally rated as fairly good to very good for cattle and horses, 

 and poor to fairly good for sheep. 



This species produces an abundance of plump, oval seeds which supposedly 

 resemble the seeds of common rice. This resemblance explains both the com- 

 mon name and the generic name Oryzopsis, which is taken from the Greek 

 words oruza, rice, and opsis, appearance. The nutritious seeds of this species 

 were formerly one of the food staples of many western Indians ; hence the com- 

 mon name, Indian ricegrass. Indians ground the seeds into meal or flour 

 which was made into bread. This food was held in high esteem by the Zuni 

 Indians of New Mexico who ate the ground seeds alone or mixed them with 

 cornmeal. They gathered large amounts of the seed for winter provisions 

 especially when their farm crops failed. 1 



1 Stevenson. M. C. ETHNOBOTANY OP THE zuxi INDIANS. U. S. Bur. Amer. Ethnol. 

 Ann. Kept. (190S-9) HO :. '{3-102, illus. 1915. 



