a widely distributed and important species throughout most of the 

 range country, except in the Southwest. The grass is distributed 

 along the east side of the Cascade and Sierra Nevada Mountains, 

 from British Columbia southward to the Mohave Desert and east to 

 Colorado, western South Dakota, and Montana. 



The species occurs throughout an unusually wide eleyational range, 

 being found from several hundred feet above sea level in Washington 

 and Oregon to as high as 11,000 feet in the central Colorado moun- 

 tains. It is distributed on plains, dry meadows, and open hillsides, 

 but seems to prefer the open woods of the slopes and foothills. Fre- 

 quently, however, it is found along partially shaded stream banks 

 and creek bottoms. In Washington and Oregon it appears not uncom- 

 monly in irrigated fields and meadows mixed with other grasses, 

 where it occasionally establishes such a good stand as to produce a 

 fair crop of hay. Although Nevada bluegrass grows luxuriantly 

 and densely on the rich soils of moist situations, it is most common 

 and widely distributed on the drier sites, growing on relatively infer- 

 tile, loose, sandy, or loamy soils. Frequently it is a characteristic 

 plant of the better scablands of Washington and Oregon and is often 

 a conspicuous opponent of the sagebrush type, occurring in associa- 

 tion with other grasses and such weeds as western yarrow, cinquefoil, 

 lupine, and pentstemon. 



Nevada bluegrass, although seldom abundant, is plentiful enough 

 to furnish considerable forage throughout its range. This grass, one 

 of the first to resume growth in the spring, is very palatable and 

 highly relished by both game animals and domesticated livestock 

 during the spring and early summer. At that time the plant is 

 cropped closely by livestock. The palatability is somewhat lower 

 at maturity, when the stalks and leaves become slightly tough, al- 

 though cattle and horses continue to eat it throughout the summer. 

 In the fall the air-dried foliage is grazed eagerly by all classes of 

 livestock. No doubt the scarcity of more succulent and tender 

 forage at that time, coupled with the softening of the dried leaves 

 by the fall rains, enhances this late usage. In general, this grass 

 rates as excellent forage for cattle and horses, good to excellent for 

 sheep, good for elk, and fair to good for deer. Nevada bluegrass 

 forage, when air-dried, is equal to timothy in feeding value, although 

 the amount produced is somewhat meager. 1 



This grass, with the possible exception of Sandberg bluegrass (P. secunda, 

 syn. P. sandbergii), is probably the most drought-enduring of the bluegrasses. 

 Remarkably deep, extensive, and fibrous roots enable this plant to grow on 

 rather dry sites and to endure extended droughts. Although drought-resistant, 

 this grass succumbs to heavy grazing and trampling and hence has been killed 

 out or reduced appreciably on many of the western ranges, because of intensive 

 utilization. Nevada bluegrass begins flowering in May and matures an abun- 

 dance of seed from July to September. The seed has fair viability and, if 

 allowed to disseminate, will germinate eventually and grow on favorable sites. 



Nevada bluegrass lacks the ability of Kentucky bluegrass to spread by 

 underground rootstocks, and its vegetative reproduction by stooling is not 

 pronounced. 



1 Knight, H. G., Hepner, F. E., and Nelson, A. WYOMING FORAGE PLANTS AND THEIR 

 CHEMICAL COMPOSITION STUDIES NO. 3. Wyo. Agr. Expt. Sta. Bull. 76, 119 pp., illus. 



