Tausch's Goatgrass

1300-2700 m.

The name Aegilops squarrosa Linnaeus has been misapplied to this species by some authors.

Culms often densely tufted, 18-30(-60) cm high, erect or geniculately ascending. Leaf-blades glabrous or sparsely hairy, up to 17 cm long, 2-6 mm wide. Spikes 5-10 cm long (excluding the awns), cylindrical, with 0(-2) vestigial spikelets at the base rhachis breaking up at maturity. Fertile spikelets 5-13; glumes of lateral spikelets 5-7.5 mm long, truncate, with a short, very blunt tooth on the upper margin; awns of terminal spikelet shorter than the spike.

Culms 20–40 cm tall. Leaf sheath glabrous but margin ciliate; ligule 0.5–1 mm, membranous; leaf blade 4–6 × ca. 0.3 cm, scabrous, adaxial surface pilose. Spike cylindric, with (5–) 7–10(–13) spikelets. Spikelets cylindric, ca. 9 mm, with 3 or 4(or 5) florets. Glumes 4–6 mm, leathery, 7–9(–10)-veined, apex truncate or slightly toothed. Lemma lanceolate, 5-veined; first lemma ca. 7 mm; awn 1–4 cm. Palea equaling lemma. Fl. and fr. May–Jun. 2n = 14.

Distribution: Pakistan (Baluchistan, N.W.F.P. & Kashmir); Turkey eastwards throughout the Middle East to Kashmir and southern USSR (Central Asia).

Fl. & Fr. Per.: May-July

Stony slopes, fields of Triticum, weedy places. Henan, Shaanxi, Xinjiang [Afghanistan, Kashmir, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan; SW Asia].

Patropyrum tauschii (Cosson) A. Löve; Triticum tauschii (Cosson) Schmalhausen.

Annuals, Terrestrial, not aquatic, Stems nodes swollen or brittle, 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 basal, below middle of stem, 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 blade auriculate, Leaf blades 2-10 mm wide, Leaf blades mostly flat, Leaf blades mostly glabrous, Leaf blades more or less hairy, Leaf blades scabrous, roughened, or wrinkled, Ligule present, Ligule an unfringed eciliate membrane, Inflorescence terminal, Inflorescence simple spikes, Inflorescence spike linear or cylindric, several times longer than wide, Inflorescence single raceme, fascicle or spike, Inflorescence spikelets arranged in a terminal bilateral spike, Flowers bisexual, Spikelets sessile or subsessile, Spikelets laterally compressed, Spikelet less than 3 mm wide, Spikelets with 3-7 florets, Spikelets solitary at rachis nodes, Spikelets distichously arranged, Spikelets all alike and fertille, Spikelets bisexual, Inflorescence disarticulating between nodes or joints of rachis, rachis fragmenting, Spikelets disarticulating below the glumes, Spikelets falling with parts of disa rticulating rachis or pedicel, Spikelets closely appressed or embedded in concave portions of axis, Rachilla or pedicel glabrous, Glumes present, empty bracts, Glumes 2 clearly present, Glumes equal or subequal, Glumes equal to or longer than adjacent lemma, Glumes 4-7 nerved, Glumes 8-15 nerved, Lemma similar in texture to glumes, Lemma coriaceous, firmer or thicker in texture than the glumes, Lemma 5-7 nerved, Lemma glabrous, Lemma apex truncate, rounded, or obtuse, Lemma distinctly awned, more than 2-3 mm, Lemma with 1 awn, Lemma awn 2-4 cm long or longer, Lemma awned from tip, Lemma awns straight or curved to base, Lemma margins thin, lying flat, Lemma straight, Palea present, well developed, Palea membranous, hyaline, Palea shorter than lemma, Palea 2 nerved or 2 keeled, Palea keels winged, scabrous, or ciliate, Stamens 3, Styles 2-fid, deeply 2-branched, Stigmas 2, Fruit - caryopsis, Caryopsis ellipsoid, longitudinally grooved, hilum long-linear, Caryopsis hairy at ape x.

Aegilops tauschii, the Tausch's goatgrass or rough-spike hard grass, is an annual grass species. It is native to Crimea, the Caucasus region, western and Central Asia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, the western Himalaya, and parts of China, and has been introduced to other locales, including California.