Part 3: Plant Classification

Examples of Common Western Rangeland Grasses, Sedges, and Rushes

This list is just a sample of grasses, sedges and rushes commonly found on western rangelands. It is by no means complete. The wide range of climate and topographical characteristics creates vastly different environments throughout western rangelands that support many different species of plants.

A great resource for plant information and identification is the Plants Database developed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture - Natural Resources Conservation Service. This site allows you to reference plants by common or scientific name and provides information about plant characteristics and distribution. Clink on the link to the database and then enter the scientific name or common name of the plant you want to investigate. Other good resources are The Nature Conservancy’s image archive, the Arizona Flora and Fauna Image Gallery, and the CalPhotos: Plants web site.

Common Name	Scientific Name	Photo
Alkali sacaton	Sporobolus airoides
Basin wildrye	Leymus cinereus
Bentgrass	Agrostis exarata
Big bluestem	Andropogon gerardii
Blue grama	Bouteloua gracillis
Canada wildrye	Elymus candadensis
Idaho fescue	Festuca idahoensis
Intermediate wheatgrass	Agropyron intermedium
Mountain brome	Bromus carinatus
Mutton grass	Poa fendleriana
Nebraska sedge	Carex nebrascensisn
Sandberg bluegrass	Poa secunda
Sideoats grama	Bouteloua crutipendula
Smooth brome	Bromus inermis
Squirrel tail	Elymus elymoides
Timothy grass	Phleum pratense