Cenchrus pauciflorus Benth., mat sandbur 
DESCRIPTION 
Warm-season, annual; at times, short-lived perennial. 
Height: 8 to 24 inches. 
Leaf blade: 2 to 6 inches long ; flat. 
Leaf sheath: Flattened ; hairy along margins. 
Stem: Erect or grows along ground. 
Seedhead: Raceme 6 to 20 spiny burs covered with fine hair, 
each enclosing 2 spikelets often tppped by leaves. 
GROWTH CHARACTERISTICS 
Growth starts in early spring. Seedheads first appear about 
July. Plants may become semidormant when moisture is scarce 
and green up and produce seed again after a rain. Grows in tufts 
or dense mats. 
DISTRIBUTION 
All states of continental United States except possibly Mon- 
tana, Idaho, and Maine; north to Canada and south to South 
America. 
SITE ADAPTATION 
Best adapted to dry sandy and sandy loam soils but grows on 
soils of heavier texture. This grass is particularly well adapted to 
waste places, old fields, and sandy flood plains. It is an invader. 
Its presence indicates a severely overused range. 
USE AND MANAGEMENT 
Mat sandbur is grazed by cattle and sheep before seedheads 
form. Forage is of fair quality but is seldom of significant quan- 
tity. 
This grass is usually managed to reduce or eliminate it from 
the plant community. Heavy grazing of mat sandbur in the spring 
when it is palatable and deferred grazing until fall allow more 
favorable associated deep-rooted perennial grasses to crowd it 
out. Because the burs are injurious to livestock and greatly re- 
duce the value of wool and mohair, livestock should be removed 
from ranges before burs form. 
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