''Eriocoma hymenoides'' (common names: Indian ricegrass and sand rice grass) is a cool-season,

perennial A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wid ...

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 perenni ...

with narrow, rolled leaf blades.Mojave Desert Wildflowers, Pam MacKay, 2nd Ed., p287 It is native to western North America east of the Cascades from

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

and

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

south to southern

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

, northeastern

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

, and

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

Description

In the wild, it typically grows 4 to 24 in (10 to 61 cm) tall and 8 to 12 in (20 to 30 cm) wide.Tirmenstein, D. 1999
Achnatherum hymenoides
In: Fire Effects Information System, nline U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Retrieved on 2009-04-24.

Habitat

''E. hymenoides'' grows in a variety of habitats from desert scrub to

ponderosa pine ''Pinus ponderosa'', commonly known as the ponderosa pine, bull pine, blackjack pine, western yellow-pine, or filipinus pine is a very large pine tree species of variable habitat native to mountainous regions of western North America. It is the ...

forests. It can live in sandy to clayey textured soils. . It can stabilize shifting sand.Canyon Country Wildflowers, Damian Fagan, 2nd ed., 2012, Morris Bush Publishing, LLC. in cooperation with Canyonlands Natural History Association,

Cultivation

left, Flowering bunch of Indian ricegrass Indian ricegrass is an important food wild grazers such as bison, bighorn sheep, elk,

mule deer The mule deer (''Odocoileus hemionus'') is a deer indigenous to western North America; it is named for its ears, which are large like those of the mule. Two subspecies of mule deer are grouped into the black-tailed deer. Unlike the related whi ...

pronghorn The pronghorn (, ) (''Antilocapra americana'') is a species of artiodactyl (even-toed, hoofed) mammal indigenous to interior western and central North America. Though not an antelope, it is known colloquially in North America as the American a ...

s, and

jackrabbit Hares and jackrabbits are mammals belonging to the genus ''Lepus''. They are herbivores, and live solitarily or in pairs. They nest in slight depressions called forms, and their young are able to fend for themselves shortly after birth. The gen ...

s. For some of these species, it is especially vital in late winter, as it produces green shoots earlier than other grasses. The seeds are heavily consumed by many

rodent Rodents (from Latin , 'to gnaw') are mammals of the order Rodentia (), which are characterized by a single pair of continuously growing incisors in each of the upper and lower jaws. About 40% of all mammal species are rodents. They are n ...

s and birds. Seed caching rodents may enhance seedling survival and long term survival of the plant Indian ricegrass is preferentially consumed by cattle and is an early casualty of overgrazing. It has been eliminated from many sites throughout its range.

Uses

In the past, the grass was a staple food of Native Americans, especially when the

maize Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. The ...

crop failed, and for non-agricultural tribes. Seed of the ricegrass was gathered and ground into meal or flour and made into bread. Since 2000, the ricegrass has been cultivated in

Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columb ...

and marketed under the trade name Montina as a

gluten-free A gluten-free diet (GFD) is a nutritional plan that strictly excludes gluten, which is a mixture of proteins found in wheat (and all of its species and hybrids, such as spelt, kamut, and triticale), as well as barley, rye, and oats. The inclus ...

grain. The Zuni people used the ground seeds as a staple before the availability of corn.

Symbol

It was officially recognized as the

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a state in the Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the 7th-most extensive, ...

state grass The following is a list of official U.S. state grasses. __TOC__ Table See also * Lists of U.S. state insignia References {{DEFAULTSORT:List Of U.S. State Grasses . * Grasses Poaceae () or Gramineae () is a large and nearly u ...

in 1977, and as the Utah state grass in 1990.Utah State Symbols - Indian Ricegrass
Pioneer - Utah's Online Library. Retrieved on 2010-06-29 The

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

Section of the Society for Range Management began campaigning for a state grass in the mid-1980s, and after studying many species the field was narrowed to four candidates, Indian ricegrass,

bluebunch wheatgrass ''Pseudoroegneria spicata'' is a species of grass known by the common name bluebunch wheatgrass. This native western North American perennial bunchgrass is also known by the scientific synonyms ''Elymus spicatus'' and ''Agropyron spicatum''. The g ...

galleta grass ''Hilaria'' is a genus of North American plants in the grass family. Members of the genus are commonly known as curly mesquite. They are found in the Southwestern United States, Mexico, and Guatemala. The generic name honors French naturalist Au ...

, and Great Basin wildrye. Indian ricegrass was then selected. The state-grass bill was introduced by Senator Alarik Myrin, a member of the Society, in 1989.

References

{{Taxonbar, from1=Q113251911, from2=Q3046572 Pooideae Bunchgrasses of North America Native grasses of California Flora of North America Plants described in 1817 Grasses of the United States Grasses of Canada Garden plants of North America Crops originating from the United States Cereals