Slender Hairgrass

Deschampsia elongata is widely distributed throughout both American continents. In western North America, the species range extends from California north to Alaska, includes southwestern Canada and Nunavut, and extends eastward to Wyoming and New Mexico. In South America the range includes portions of Argentina, Chile, Peru, Bolivia and Uruguay. Tolerant of moist soils California oatgrass is found on coastal prairies, outer coastal mountain ranges, wet meadows and moist open forest soils; however it is also widespread on certain well-drained arid soils including some desert grasslands.

Commonly known as California oatgrass, this tufted species can attain a height of 80 centimeters, and exhibits two to five spikelets per individual. The bluish green cylindrical culms are hard, but also succulent in texture. This grass provides excellent forage for both wild ungulates and livestock.

More info for the terms: prescribed fire, restoration

The Research Project Summary Vegetation response to restoration treatments
in ponderosa pine-Douglas-fir forests of western Montana provides information
on prescribed fire and postfire response of plant community species, including
slender hairgrass, that was not available when this species review was written.

slender hairgrass

Slender hairgrass is a native, perennial bunchgrass.  Culms are slender,
erect, densely tufted, and usually 12 to 48 inches (30-120 cm) tall
[11,15,25,35].  The leaves have flat or folded blades from 0.04 to 0.06
inch (1-1.5 mm) wide [11,25,35].  The panicle is narrow and from 4 to 12
inches (10-30 cm) tall [11,35].

Slender hairgrass occurs from Alaska south throughout most of the
western United States and Mexico [14,15,16,20,35].  It also occurs in
Argentina and Chile [16,35].

More info for the term: fire regime

NO-ENTRY

FIRE REGIMES :
Find fire regime information for the plant communities in which this
species may occur by entering the species name in the FEIS home page under
"Find FIRE REGIMES".

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More info for the term: hemicryptophyte

  
   Hemicryptophyte

More info for the term: forest

Slender hairgrass occurs in a wide variety of habitats including forest
openings, woodlands, grasslands, meadows, marshes, valley floodplains,
and stream and lake margins [11,16,23,24,35].  It is most commonly found
in moist soil in open to shaded habitats [12,14,16,23].  In Oregon,
slender hairgrass occurs from sea level to alpine zones [16].
Elevational ranges of slender hairgrass in several states are as follows
[1,20,24,25,33,35]:

                           feet                    meters

Arizona                 4,000-9,000              1,200-2,700     
California                  0-10,500                 0-3,150       
Montana                 4,900-4,950              1,470-1,485
Nevada                  8,050-8,800              2,455-2,685
Utah                    6,040-10,360             1,830-3,140

Slender hairgrass grows best on fine-textured sandy or gravelly soils
derived from glacial, volcanic, and sedimentary parent materials
[12,16,30]. 
 

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This species is known to occur in association with the following cover types (as classified by the Society of American Foresters):

   205  Mountain hemlock
   206  Engelmann spruce - subalpine fir
   207  Red fir
   208  Whitebark pine
   209  Bristlecone pine
   210  Interior Douglas-fir
   211  White fir
   212  Western larch
   213  Grand fir
   215  Western white pine
   216  Blue spruce
   217  Aspen
   218  Lodgepole pine
   219  Limber pine
   221  Red alder
   222  Black cottonwood - willow
   224  Western hemlock
   226  Coastal true fir - hemlock
   227  Western redcedar - western hemlock
   228  Western redcedar
   229  Pacific Douglas-fir
   230  Douglas-fir - western hemlock
   235  Cottonwood - willow
   237  Interior ponderosa pine
   243  Sierra Nevada mixed conifer
   244  Pacific ponderosa pine - Douglas-fir
   245  Pacific ponderosa pine
   247  Jeffrey pine
   255  California coast live oak
   256  California mixed subalpine

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This species is known to occur in the following ecosystem types (as named by the U.S. Forest Service in their Forest and Range Ecosystem [FRES] Type classification):

   FRES20  Douglas-fir
   FRES21  Ponderosa pine
   FRES22  Western white pine
   FRES23  Fir - spruce
   FRES24  Hemlock - Sitka spruce
   FRES25  Larch
   FRES26  Lodgepole pine
   FRES28  Western hardwoods
   FRES36  Mountain grasslands
   FRES37  Mountain meadows
   FRES41  Wet grasslands
   FRES42  Annual grasslands
   FRES44  Alpine

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This species is known to occur in association with the following plant community types (as classified by Küchler 1964):

More info for the term: forest

   K001  Spruce - cedar - hemlock forest
   K002  Cedar - hemlock - Douglas-fir forest
   K003  Silver fir - Douglas-fir forest
   K004  Fir - hemlock forest
   K005  Mixed conifer forest
   K007  Red fir forest
   K008  Lodgepole pine - subalpine forest
   K011  Western ponderosa forest
   K012  Douglas-fir forest
   K013  Cedar - hemlock - pine forest
   K014  Grand fir - Douglas-fir forest
   K015  Western spruce - fir forest
   K018  Pine - Douglas-fir forest
   K020  Spruce - fir - Douglas-fir forest
   K021  Southwestern spruce - fir forest
   K022  Great Basin pine forest
   K025  Alder - ash forest
   K030  California oakwoods
   K038  Great Basin sagebrush
   K047  Fescue - oatgrass
   K048  California steppe
   K052  Alpine meadows and barren

Perennial grasses are generally top-killed by fire so slender hairgrass
is probably top-killed by fire.  Its densely tufted growth form may
protect regenerative tissues from fires that are not severe.  Specific
fire effects, however, are not described in the literature.

Slender hairgrass provides excellent forage in mountain meadows of
Arizona [20]. 

More info for the terms: association, forb, forest, habitat type, phase

Slender hairgrass occurs in a wide variety of habitats including maple
(Acer spp.), aspen (Populus spp.), fir-spruce (Abies-Picea spp.),
ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa), and lodgepole pine (P. contorta).  It
also occurs in alpine, subalpine forest, riparian forest, meadow, and
coastal prairie communities [13,17,24,30,35].

Slender hairgrass is an indicator species in lodgepole pine and
Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) forests of western Oregon [12]. 

Slender hairgrass occurs in many wetland and riparian habitats.  In
Nevada, slender hairgrass is a component of the willow (Salix spp.)-forb
community type of the subalpine zone.  In northeastern California,
slender hairgrass occurs in the quaking aspen/skunkcabbage (Populus
tremuloides/Veratrum californicum) habitat type [30].  Slender hairgrass
occurs in the montane black cottonwood (P. trichocarpa) riparian forest
of California.  This is a dense, mixed riparian forest dominated by
black cottonwood with emergent Jeffrey pine (Pinus jeffreyi) towering up
to 150 feet (45 m) [17].

Slender hairgrass occurs in moist forests.  It is a member of the
lodgepole pine/California oatgrass (Danthonia californica) community on
moist sites in Washington and Oregon [5].  In the Cascade Ranges of
southern Oregon, slender hairgrass occurs in the western hemlock/Pacific
rhododendron-twinflower (Tsuga heterophylla/Rhododendron
macrophyllum-Linnaea borealis var. longiflora) association [1].  In
eastern Washington and northern Idaho, slender hairgrass occurs in
western redcedar (Thuja plicata) forests [3].  In larch-fir (Larix-Abies
spp.) forests of Montana, slender hairgrass occurs in two phases:  the
subalpine fir/queencup beadlily-rusty menziesia (A.
lasiocarpa/Clintonia uniflora-Menziesia ferruginea) phase and the
subalpine fir/queencup beadlily-beargrass (A. lasiocarpa/C.
uniflora-Xerophyllum tenax) phase [32].

Slender hairgrass also occurs in moderate to dry habitats.  In eastern
Washington and northern Idaho, slender hairgrass is a common understory
species in subalpine fir, grand fir (A. grandis), Douglas-fir, and
ponderosa pine forests [3].  In the Santa Lucia and Diablo ranges of
southern California, slender hairgrass can be found in the understory of
sugar pine (P. lambertiana), bristlecone fir (Abies bracteata), and
mixed oak-Coulter pine (Quercus spp.-Pinus coulteri) communities [10].
In the Sierra Nevada, slender hairgrass occurs in Jeffrey pine forests
[31].  Slender hairgrass has been a member of the fescue-oatgrass
(Festuca-Danthonia spp.) coastal prairie community along the coast of
California [13].  Slender hairgrass is a component of the subalpine forb
community in the Bridger-Teton National Forest of Wyoming [9].

Species not previously mentioned but commonly associated with slender
hairgrass include incense-cedar (Libocedrus decurrens), Rocky Mountain
maple (Acer glabrum), Pacific yew (Taxus brevifolia), erect willow
(Salix rigida), western chokecherry (Prunus virginiana var. demissa),
Oregon boxwood (Pachistima myrsinites), devil's club (Oplopanax
horridus), ninebark (Physocarpus malvaceus), oceanspray (Holodiscus
discolor), Wood's rose (Rosa woodsii), starry Solomon-seal (Smilacina
stellata), longstalk clover (Trifolium longpipes), salal (Gaultheria
shallon), Oregon-grape (Berberis nervosa), larkspur (Delphinium
nutallianum), western yarrow (Achillea millefolium), sweetscented
bedstraw (Galium triflorum), tufted hairgrass (Deschampsia cespitosa),
red fescue (Festuca rubra), western needlegrass (Stipa occidentalis),
blue wildrye (Elymus glaucus), prairie Junegrass (Koeleria macrantha),
Columbia brome (Bromus vulgaris), Merten's rush (Juncus mertensianus),
and sedge (Carex spp.) [3,5,17,24,30].

More info for the term: graminoid

Graminoid

     AK  AZ  CA  CO  ID  MT  NV  NM  OR  UT
     WA  WY  AB  BC  YT  MEXICO

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Slender hairgrass flowers from May to August in California [25]. 

More info for the terms: cover, duff, forest, fuel, succession

Studies of larch-Douglas-fir forest succession were conducted at Miller
Creek on the Flathead National Forest in Montana.  Eight study areas
were clearcut and then slashed to provide a uniform fuel bed.  Most
units were broadcast burned within 1 year after timber harvest.  Slender
hairgrass was a component of two units:  N-7 and S-1.  The N-7 unit was
logged in January of 1967, slashed in February of 1967, and
broadcast-burned June 18, 1968.  Postfire duff depth was 1.8 inches (4.5
cm), 51 percent of prefire depth.  The S-1 unit was logged in June 1967,
slashed in June 1967, and broadcast burned May 18, 1968.  Postfire duff
depth was 1.7 inches (4.3 cm), 84 percent of prefire depth.  Slender
hairgrass was not in the prefire community and was reported in only 2 of
the 9 postfire years.  Cover and volume development of slender hairgrass
were as follows [32]:

           Cover development of slender hairgrass (sq m/0.01 ha or %)

                                 succession year
                pre    1    2    3    4    5    6    7    8    9 

N-7              0     0    0    0    0    0    0    3    2    0
S-1              0     0    0    0    0    0    0    1    0    0

            Volume development of slender hairgrass (cubic m/0.01 ha)

                                 succession year
                pre    1    2    3    4    5    6    7    8    9

N-7              0     0    0    0    0    0    0   0.5  0.2   0
S-1              0     0    0    0    0    0    0   0.2   0    0
  

More info for the term: tussock

   Tussock graminoid

More info for the term: seed

Slender hairgrass reproduces from seed and tillers. 
 

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This species can be found in the following regions of the western United States (according to the Bureau of Land Management classification of Physiographic Regions of the western United States):

    1  Northern Pacific Border
    2  Cascade Mountains
    3  Southern Pacific Border
    4  Sierra Mountains
    5  Columbia Plateau
    6  Upper Basin and Range
    7  Lower Basin and Range
    8  Northern Rocky Mountains
    9  Middle Rocky Mountains
   10  Wyoming Basin
   11  Southern Rocky Mountains
   12  Colorado Plateau

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More info for the terms: facultative wetland species, succession

Facultative Seral Species

Slender hairgrass is a facultative wetland species [27,28,29].
According to Hickman [14], it survives best in full or partial shade.
However, in Montana, slender hairgrass is more prominent in areas that
have been opened and disturbed by logging than in areas with undisturbed
vegetation [6].  In southwestern Oregon, slender hairgrass is an
indicator species in Douglas-fir forests that have been recently
harvested [8].  In the foothills of the western Cascades, Oregon,
slender hairgrass establishes in the early stages of secondary plant
succession after clearcutting [18].

The currently accepted scientific name of slender hairgrass is
Deschampsia elongata (Hook.) Munro (Poaceae) [11,14,19,25]. There are
no recognized infrataxa.

Deschampsia elongata (Hook.) Munro; Benth. PI. Hartw 342. 1857.
Aira elongata Hook. Fl. Bor. Am. 2: 243. 1840.
Deyeuxia Schaffneri Fourn. Bull. Soc. Bot. Fr. 24: 181. 1877; Mex. PI. Gram. 107. 18S6. (Type
from Mount Orizaba, Schaffntr 94.) Deschampsia elongata var. ciliata Vasey; Beal, Grasses N. Am. 2: 371. 1896. (Type from Santa
Cruz, California, Anderson.) Deschampsia elongata var. tenuis Vasey; Beal, Grasses N. Am. 2: 372. 1896. (Type from Santa
Cruz, California, Jones 3201.) Deschampsia ciliata Rydb. Fl. Rocky Mts. 60. 1917. (Based on D. elongata var. ciliata Vasey.) Aira Vaseyana Rydb. Fl. Rocky Mts. ed. 2. 1112. 1922. (Based on Deschampsia elongata var.
ciliata Vasey.)
Perennial; culms densely tufted, slender, erect, glabrous, 30-120 cm. tall; sheaths glabrous, striate ; ligules acute, about 5 mm. long; blades soft, flat or folded, glabrous or scaberulous, 1-1.5 mm. wide, those of the basal tuft filiform; panicle narrow, as much as 30 cm. long, the axis scabrous, the capillary branches appressed, rather loosely flowered ; glumes 3-nerved, acuminate, usually somewhat exceeding the florets, minutely scabrous, 4—6 mm. long; lemmas 2-3 mm. long, simitar to those of D. danthonioides, the awns shorter, straight, the callus-hairs half as long as the lemma, the rachilla-joint pilose.
Type locality: Columbia River (Douglas).
Distribution: Open ground, Alaska to Wyoming, and southward to Arizona, California, and northern Mexico; also in Chile.

Perennials, Terrestrial, not aquatic, Stems nodes swollen or brittle, Stems erect or ascending, Stems caespitose, tufted, or clustered, Stems terete, round in cross section, or polygonal, Stem internodes hollow, Stems with inflorescence less than 1 m tall, Stems, culms, or scapes exceeding basal leaves, Leaves mostly basal, below middle of stem, Leaves conspicuously 2-ranked, distichous, Leaves sheathing at base, Leaf sheath mostly open, or loose, Leaf sheath smooth, glabrous, Leaf sheath and blade differentiated, Leaf blades linear, Leaf blades very narrow or filiform, less than 2 mm wide, Leaf blades 2-10 mm wide, Leaf blades mostly flat, Leaf blade margins folded, involute, or conduplicate, Leaf blades mostly glabrous, Leaf blades scabrous, roughened, or wrinkled, Ligule present, Ligule an unfringed eciliate membrane, Inflorescence terminal, Inflorescence a contracted panicle, narrowly paniculate, branches appre ssed or ascending, Inflorescence solitary, with 1 spike, fascicle, glomerule, head, or cluster per stem or culm, Inflorescence branches more than 10 to numerous, Lower panicle branches whorled, Flowers bisexual, Spikelets pedicellate, Spikelets laterally compressed, Spikelet less than 3 mm wide, Spikelets with 2 florets, Spikelets solitary at rachis nodes, Spikelets all alike and fertille, Spikelets bisexual, Spikelets disarticulating above the glumes, glumes persistent, Spikelets disarticulating beneath or between the florets, Rachilla or pedicel hairy, Glumes present, empty bracts, Glumes 2 clearly present, Glumes equal or subequal, Glumes distinctly unequal, Glumes equal to or longer than adjacent lemma, Glume equal to or longer than spikelet, Glumes 1 nerved, Glumes 3 nerved, Lemma similar in texture to glumes, Lemma coriaceous, firmer or thicker in texture than the glumes, Lemma 5-7 nerved, Lemma glabrous, Lemma body or surface hairy, Lemma apex truncate, rounded, or ob tuse, Lemma distinctly awned, more than 2-3 mm, Lemma with 1 awn, Lemma awn less than 1 cm long, Lemma awn subapical or dorsal, Lemma awns straight or curved to base, Lemma margins thin, lying flat, Lemma straight, Callus or base of lemma evidently hairy, Callus hairs equal to lemma, Palea present, well developed, Palea membranous, hyaline, Palea longer than lemma, Palea 2 nerved or 2 keeled, Stamens 3, Styles 2-fid, deeply 2-branched, Stigmas 2, Fruit - caryopsis, Caryopsis ellipsoid, longitudinally grooved, hilum long-linear.

Deschampsia elongata is a species of grass known by the common name slender hairgrass.