Whiplash Pappusgrass
Pappophorum vaginatum

Family: Poaceae

Erect tufted perennial grass with uniformly leafy stems reaching about 3’+ tall. They curl when dry. The narrowed panicle is whitish or tawny in color, sometimes tinged with purple, and it occurs in July through September.

An upright perennial bunchgrass with distinctive with its whitish to tawny spikelike panicle, the spikelets crowned by multiple scabrous awns.

Full to part sun, best on irrigation.

Granivorous birds love the seeds.

Pappophorum is from Greek pappos, for fluff or beard, and phoros for carrying, while vaginatum means sheathed, referring to the leaf sheath covering the lower part of the panicle.

Found in dry washes, along roadsides and in flats from 2,000-4,000 ft. in southern Arizona to Texas and in northern Mexico; also from Uruguay to Argentina.

Photo by southwestwanderer, iNaturalist
Pappophorum vaginatum on SEINET