James' Galleta
Hilaria jamesii

Family: Poaceae

Tufted perennial grass, strongly rhizomatous or stoloniferous reaching about 2’ tall. Flowers May through October. The woody rhizome is shallow, spreading just under the soil surface, but it may reach 6 ft in length and when dense, helps the grass form a sod. Its stems are not fuzzy like those of its relative, Hilaria rigida. The grass produces relatively little viable seed and spreads mostly via its rhizome.

Full to part sun, best on irrigation. Spreads fast, good for tortoise enclosures.

Used to make coiled baskets and plaques, used as a brush, and to treat colds. This species provides nutritious forage for native herbivores and domestic livestock when it is green, but is less palatable once the curly leaves have dried and cured.

Hilaria is named for Auguste St. Hilaire (1779-1853), a French naturalist; jamesii honors Edwin P. James (1797-1861), an American botanist, geologist and geographer who completed the first recorded ascent of Pike's Peak. There are 10 species of Hilaria found in the Southwestern United States, Mexico, and Guatemala.

Found in canyons, deserts, dry plains, sandy plateaus, pinyon-juniper woodlands, sometimes in Ponderosa pine forests at 3,500-7,000 ft. in California, Nevada, Arizona, Utah, New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas.

Photo by Anthony Zukoff, iNaturalist
Hilaria jamesii on SEINET