Big Galeta
Pleuraphis rigida
(Hilaria rigida)
Sketched from live specimen in Butler Valley, La Paz County, AZ. 06 April 1993.
PERENNIAL GRASS: This long-lived grass takes on a shrub-like morphology
with multiple above ground branches and woody (lignized) lower stems and
reaching a height of 1 m.
FLOWERS: A narrow spike on a twisty stem consisting of closely appressed
spiklets appearing three per node. A series of short awns on each
spikelet.
LEAVES: Leaf-blades are cauline, i.e. dispersed along stems as opposed
to not restricted to base as in many grasses.
RANGE: Fairly common in the Sonoran Desert of Arizona on plains, sand
dune areas, and adjacent to washes. Also ranges into Mojave and Chihuahuan
Deserts.
FRUIT: A grain.
UNARMED.