BOTTLEBRUSH SQUIRRELTAIL 



Sita'nion hys'trix 



Flower-head axis (rachis) 

 jointed, breaking apart at joints 



Individual flower groups (spike- 

 lets) usually 2 at each raehis 

 joint, 2- to 6-flowered, stalkless 



Lowest (2) spikelet bracts 

 (glumes) slender, 2-nerved, 

 sometimes 2-divided, extended 

 into harsh beards (awns) 2 to 

 3J in. long 



Outef flower bract (lemma) 

 sometimes 2-toothed, tipped by 

 spreading, harsh awn 1 to 3^ in. 

 long 



Flower head (spike) up to 8 in. 

 long, often partly enclosed in up- 

 per leaf sheath, densely flowered , 

 bristly with spreading awns 



Stalks (culms) tufted, slender, 

 up to 22 in. high, harsh near flower 

 heads, with numerous, short, 

 leafy, headless shoots at base 



Leaves narrow, flat or inrolled, 

 usually rather stiff, erect or 

 ascending, prominently veined, 

 somewhat harsh above, usually 

 smooth beneath, hairless to 

 hairy.; sheaths overlapping, the 

 basal ones papery 



Roots fibrous 



Bottlebrush squirreltail, sometimes called bristle grass, bushtail, and foxtail 

 is a bright green, bristly headed, perennial bunch grass. The specific name 

 Jiystriiff (Greek, meaning porcupine) was given to this species primarily because 

 of its resemblance to the bottlebrush grasses (Hystrix spp.). Bottlebrush 

 sqnirreltail is very variable and has been separated by some botanists into 

 numerous "species." This differentiation has been based on such characters 

 as size, coarseness, or slenderness of stems; length and shape (flat or iurolled) 



