''Sporobolus cryptandrus'' is a species of

grass Poaceae () or Gramineae () is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos and the grasses of natural grassland and species cultivated in lawns an ...

known as sand dropseed. It is native to North America, where it is widespread in southern Canada, most of the United States, and northern Mexico.

Description

''Sporobolus cryptandrus'' is a perennial

bunchgrass Tussock grasses or bunch grasses are a group of grass species in the family Poaceae. They usually grow as singular plants in clumps, tufts, hummocks, or bunches, rather than forming a sod or lawn, in meadows, grasslands, and prairies. As perennial ...

forming a tuft of stems growing up to a meter long, erect to decumbent in form. The stem bases are thick but not hard or woody. The leaves are up to long and rough-haired along the margins. Some stand out from the stems in a perpendicular fashion. The

inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed o ...

is dense and narrow when new, spreading out and becoming diffuse, with some branches sticking straight out, with age. The base of the inflorescence is often sheathed within the top leaf, which spreads out beside it. The grass produces abundant seeds; an individual inflorescence is capable of bearing 10,000 seeds.

Habitat

Sand dropseed is a common grass in many types of North American

prairie Prairies are ecosystems considered part of the temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome by ecologists, based on similar temperate climates, moderate rainfall, and a composition of grasses, herbs, and shrubs, rather than trees, as the ...

s and grows in a wide variety of other

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

s, including disturbed areas such as roadsides.

Ecology

The seeds of this grass provide food for small birds and mammals, including

scaled quail The scaled quail (''Callipepla squamata''), also commonly called blue quail or cottontop, is a species of the New World quail family. It is a bluish gray bird found in the arid regions of the Southwestern United States to Central Mexico. This sp ...

(''Callipepla squamata'') and

black-tailed prairie dog The black-tailed prairie dog (''Cynomys ludovicianus'') is a rodent of the family Sciuridae found in the Great Plains of North America from about the United States-Canada border to the United States-Mexico border. Unlike some other prairie dogs, ...

s (''Cynomys ludovicianus'').

References

External links

''Sporobolus cryptandrus'' - Photo gallery
at CalPhotos {{Taxonbar, from=Q7579242 cryptandrus Flora of North America