Reprinted June 1973. Facts and recommendations in this publication may no longer be valid. Please look for up-to-date information in the OSU Extension Catalog: http://extension.oregonstate.edu/catalo

Markgraf, Peter M.

Oregon State University. Cooperative Extension Service

Oregon State University. Extension Service

Undetermined

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Range Plant ^JT Leaflet ^^ Intermediate Wheatgrass (Agropyron intermedium) Where does it grow? This is an introduced grass and is adapted to many areas of eastern Oregon and Washington, Wyoming, Colorado, Idaho, Utah, and northern Arizona and New Mexico.  It is best adapted to well- drained areas of medium to high fertility that receive 15-18 inches average precipitation.  Intermediate wheatgrass does well at a variety of elevations, depending more on the site conditions of the area than elevation. Is it important? This grass is cultivated for seed production in the Intermountain and other regions, including higher elevations of the Southwest.  This grass is vigorous, easily established, and spreads rapidly to give a dense, leafy ground cover the first year.  It is used for pasture, hay, as a soil binder, and is commonly used in range seedings with alfalfa.  It starts growth early in the spring, stays green long into the summer, and matures late.  It is readily grazed in the spring and makes excellent hay when cut in early flowering.  This grass is long-lived and resistant to disease and frost.  It requires more moisture than crested wheatgrass but less than smooth brome and generally produces more forage than either of these two grasses on sites to which it is well adapted. What does it look like? Intermediate wheatgrass is closely related to tall wheatgrass (Agropyron elongatum) and pubescent wheatgrass (Agropyron trichophorum) It closely resembles pubescent wheatgrass but lacks the pubescence (short- hairiness) on its  spikelets.  The seed heads of intermediate wheatgrass are generally more compact than those of pubescent wheatgrass. Description; Length of Life—Perennial. Height—Usually 3 to 4 feet. COOPERATIVE EXTENSION SERVICE OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY CORVALLIS Cooperative Extension work in agriculture and home economics. Gene M. Lear, Director, Oregon State University and the United States Department of Agriculture cooperating. Printed and distributed in furtherance of Acts of Congress of May 8 and June 30,  1914. Prepared by Peter M. Markgraf, former student in Range Management, Oregon State University. How Does it Spread?—It spreads by seeds and rhizomes. Leaves—Basal and along entire stalk. Seeds—Lack awns or beards and are not pubescent. Does it look like anything else? Yes, it looks very much like pubescent wheatgrass. The lemmas of the pubescent wheatgrass inflorescense generally are quite pubescent with fine, gray hairs; those of intermediate usually lack the pubescence. INTERMEDIATE PUBESCENT PUBESCENT 

Intermediate wheatgrass (Agropyron intermedium)

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Intermediate wheatgrass (Agropyron intermedium)

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