Green Sprangletop
Disakisperma dubium

Family: Poaceae

Large, upright-growing, perennial grass growing to about 3-5’ tall. Bloom spikes appear in July through October.

A variable perennial which can often be quite robust; distinguished by its larger leaf width and length, and especially the inflorescences with widely diverging.

Full sun to shade, best on irrigation, but sometimes can grow in areas where natural moisture collects.

Good for livestock, fair for wildlife when green. Often made into hay.

Disakisperma comes from the Greek words dis-, twice, -akis-, point, and -sperma, seed, alluding to the bicuspid tip of the seed; dubia means doubtful because Carl Kunth, the botanist who originally described the species, was unsure which to genus it belonged. There are four species of Disakisperma native to North and South America, Africa, and the Arabian Peninsula.

Until very recently this plant was known as Leptochloa dubia; it is still found under that name even in newer texts, including the Flora Neomexicana

Found on dry slopes, plateaus, rocky slopes; 2,500-6,000 ft.

Photo by Max Licher, SEINET
Disakisperma dubium on iNaturalist