Participant Info

Species

Pseudoroegneria spicata [Agropyron missuricum] [Agropyron spicatum] [Elymus spicatus] etc.

Family

Poaceae

CommonName

bluebunch wheatgrass

Presence

maybe

Status

native

EarliestDate

1979

LatestDate

2001

Ecosystem

montane

Geobotanical

SSawatch, SSanjuans

Counties

Conejos, Saguache

Passes

Poncha

WildlifePreserves

Other Localities

PhotoRecords

Comments

NEED IN SITU PHOTOS. Bluebunch wheatgrass has two records from the Watershed, at least two vouchers determined as such: Poncha pass (Saguache Co, 1979—the date inferred from other vouchers submitted by the collector) and between Fish Lake and Blue Lake (Conejos Co, 2001). Neither of these records are accepted by Shaw (2008) or Ackerfield (2022), perhaps because of their elevation. Pseudoroegneria spicata usually grows in sagebrush and pinyon-juniper habitats of the foothills and lower montane. The species is, however, quite common throughout the western slope and Front Range of Colorado. In the USA, it is a dominant grass in the Western states, providing important forage for wildlife. It follows the Rio Grande drainage through the southern half of New Mexico, on down to the Big Bend region of Texas.

Annotation