A native, bunched weedy annual up to 28 inches tall. Leaves are up to 10 inches long and 1/2 inch wide. Often reddish or purple, the leaf sheaths have numerous long hairs (C). The early, delicate straw-colored flower clusters (A) develop into mature large, open, spreading, much branched panicles up to 12 inches long and almost as wide (D), which often are reddish or purplish (E). Panicles break away from the plant, rolling off as tumbleweeds at maturity.
Disturbed ground, fields, roadsides. A sizable colony of Witchgrass has been present in a disturbed area in lower Jonas Prairie (E). It is rare elsewhere at Neale Woods, mainly along the edges of the entrance road. It has not been identified at Fontenelle Forest. Flowering occurs from August to October.
Fall panicum (Panicum dichotomiflorum) and switchgrass (Panicum virgatum) also have open panicles but do not have hairs on the leaf sheath.
The delicate, many-branched panicles have prompted rather imaginative common names like Ticklegrass and Witch’s Hair. The propensity for the panicle to break off and roll away in the wind is responsible for another common name, Tumbleweed Grass.
The content of NatureSearch is provided by dedicated volunteer Naturalists of Fontenelle Forest who strive to provide the most accurate information available. Contributors of the images retain their copyrights. The point of contact for this page is: Neal Ratzlaff.