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DESCRIPTION:
Southwestern cupgrass, a summer annual, is distributed
in all cultivated crops including orchards and vineyards. Its seeds
germinate beginning in early spring, and the plant matures from
June through August, producing an abundance of seed. Southwestern cupgrass can be mistaken for prairie
cupgrass or barnyardgrass. Its seedlings can be
distinguished from those of prairie cupgrass which unlike southwestern cupgrass, has soft hairs on the leaf
blade and leaf sheath. The ligule of prairie cupgrass is short and less prominent than that of southwestern
cupgrass. The seedling can be distinguished from that of barnyardgrass by
a fringe of hairs on the ligule and by the stems and leaf sheaths,
which are neither flattened, nor purple. Several stems grow from
the base of mature plants, which range in height from 1 to 4 feet
(30-120 cm). Leaf blades are smooth, flat and about 1/5 to 2/5
inch (1/2-1 cm) wide. The panicle is 2 to 10 inches (5-25 cm).
Greenish or purplish spikelets are arranged in 2 rows along 1 side
of a narrow, hairy rachis. Each spikelet has a dark, cuplike structure
at the base, hence, its common name. The yellowish grain is oval,
flat on one side and rounded on the other. It has a sharp point
at the tip.
Grass ID illustration.
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