Texas Dropseed

Sporobolus texanus Vasey; Coult. Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 1 :
57. 1890.
Perennial, in close spherical tufts; culms erect or spreading, rather slender, wiry, glabrous, about 2-noded, 30—50 cm. tall; sheaths more or less pilose at the throat, glabrous or the lower papillose-pilose; ligule about 0.5 mm. long, ciliate; blades flat, often involute in drying, scabrous on the upper surface and on the margins, glabrous or nearly so beneath, mostly less than 10 cm. long, 1-4 mm. wide; panicles open, diffuse, breaking away at maturity, 15-30 cm. long, about as wide, the axis angled, scabrous, the branches, the capillary branchlets and the long pedicels stiffly spreading; spikelets 2-2.5 mm. long, glabrous; first glume acute, one third to half as long as the spikelet, the second acuminate, slightly exceeding the acute lemma and palea, the latter splitting early.
Type locality: Screw Bean, Presidio County, Texas (Nealley 755).
Distribution: Mesas, valleys, and salt marshes, Kansas to Colorado, Texas, and New Mexico.

Annuals, Perennials, Terrestrial, not aquatic, Rhizomes present, Rhizome short and compact, stems close, Stems nodes swollen or brittle, Stems erect or ascending, Stems geniculate, decumbent, or lax, sometimes rooting at nodes, Stems caespitose, tufted, or clustered, Stems terete, round in cross section, or polygonal, Stem internodes hollow, Stems with inflorescence less than 1 m tall, Stems, culms, or scapes exceeding basal leaves, Leaves mostly cauline, Leaves conspicuously 2-ranked, distichous, Leaves sheathing at base, Leaf sheath mostly open, or loose, Leaf sheath smooth, glabrous, Leaf sheath and blade differentiated, Leaf blades linear, Leaf blades 2-10 mm wide, Leaf blades mostly flat, Leaf blade margins folded, involute, or conduplicate, Leaf blades mostly glabrous, Leaf blades scabrous, roughened, or wrinkled, Ligule present, Ligule a fringe of hairs, Inflorescence terminal, Inflorescence an open panicle, openly paniculate, branches spreading, Inflorescence solitary, with 1 spike, fascicle, glomerule, head, or cluster per stem or culm, Inflorescence branches more than 10 to numerous, Flowers bisexual, Spikelets laterally compressed, Spikelet less than 3 m m wide, Spikelets with 1 fertile floret, Spikelets solitary at rachis nodes, Spikelets all alike and fertille, Spikelets bisexual, Spikelets disarticulating above the glumes, glumes persistent, Rachilla or pedicel glabrous, Glumes present, empty bracts, Glumes 2 clearly present, Glumes distinctly unequal, Glumes shorter than adjacent lemma, Glumes 1 nerved, Lemmas thin, chartaceous, hyaline, cartilaginous, or membranous, Lemma similar in texture to glumes, Lemma 1 nerved, Lemma glabrous, Lemma apex acute or acuminate, Lemma awnless, Lemma straight, Palea present, well developed, Palea membranous, hyaline, Palea about equal to lemma, Palea 2 nerved or 2 keeled, Stamens 3, Styles 2-fid, deeply 2-branched, Stigmas 2, Fruit - caryopsis, Caryopsis ellipsoid, longitudinally grooved, hilum long-linear.

Sporobolus texanus is a species of grass known by the common name Texas dropseed. It is native to the western United States.

This species is a perennial bunchgrass with fibrous roots. The stems grow 20 to 70 cm (7.9 to 27.6 in) long and may be erect or decumbent. The leaf blades are up to 18 cm long, but are generally shorter. The panicle is an open array of thin branches bearing tiny purplish spikelets.

This species is added to seed mixes for rangeland. It can tolerate saline and alkaline soils, such as those around oil well pads. It grows close to the ground and has fibrous roots, which help it bind the soil to reduce erosion. It provides good cover for small animals.