CRESTED WHEATGRASS 
By H. L. Westover, senior agronomist, Division of Forage Crops and Diseases, 
Bureau of Plant Industry* ; 
INTRODUCTION INTO THE UNITED STATES 
Crested wheatgrass (Agropyron cristatum Gaertn.) is a hardy, 
drought-resistant perennial bunch grass, native to the cold, dry 
plains of Russia and Siberia. The first recorded introduction into 
the United States was made through the efforts of the United States 
Department of Agriculture in 1898, but the possibilities of the grass 
did not attract much attention until after 1915, when it was sown 
in the northern Great Plains, where it proved especially adapted. 
DESCRIPTION AND CHARACTERISTICS 
Crested wheatgrass is closely related botanically to slender wheat- 
grass (A. tenerum Vasey) and western wheatgrass (A. smithii 
Rydb.), both native to the northern Great Plains. It is a typical 
bunch grass, differing in this respect from western wheatgrass and 
bromegrass (Bromus inermis Leyss.), both of which spread by under- 
ground rootstocks and tend to develop a uniform turf. 
A wide range of types is found in commercial seedings, but typical 
plants have a dense, dark-green foliage during the early part of the 
season. Aiter heading, the plants appear less leafy, but the stems 
are fine, and when harvested early the grass makes hay of excellent 
quality. 
The seeds of some plants have pronounced awns, while those of 
others are awnless or practically so. Seeds with long awns are 
objectionable, as they have a tendency to hang together and do not 
feed readily through the drill. 
Crested wheatgrass has a longer productive period than slender 
wheatgrass or bromegrass and under favorable moisture conditions 
has yielded well for 10 to 15 years or more. In comparable tests 
bromegrass and slender wheatgrass have frequently yielded more 
the first 2 or 3 years, after which the slender wheatgrass tends to 
die out and the bromegrass becomes sod-bound, while crested wheat- 
grass continues to produce satisfactorily, provided moisture condi- 
tions are favorable. At the Northern Great Plains Field Station, 
Mandan, N.Dak., a seeding made in rows in 1915 produced more in 
1933, its eighteenth year, than bromegrass, slender wheatgrass, or 
later seedings of crested wheatgrass. 
Crested wheatgrass is able to grow at low temperatures, and as a 
result makes earher and more rapid growth than other grasses with 
which it has been compared. This characteristic is probably due to 
its extensive root system, which permits storage of abundant food 
reserves and ready utilization of water. The grass has a tendency 
to become dormant during hot, dry periods, but seems to suffer no 
permanent injury, growth being resumed upon arrival of the cool 
days of autumn, and with a favorable moisture supply continuing 
until late in the season. Its ability to grow at low temperatures 
1The writer is indebted to J. T. Sarvis, Mandan, N.Dak., Leroy Moomaw, Dickinson, 
N.Dak., and M. A. Bell, Havre, Mont., for suggestions in the preparation of this leaflet. 
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