Tufted Hairgrass - Department of Animal and Rangeland Sciences

Tufted Hairgrass
Deschampsia cespitosa (L.)
Beauv.
Cool season, perennial, short lived bunchgrass.
Often refered to as Salt and Pepper grass or
Hairgrass. Used as a mine tailings reclamation
species because of its high tolerance of heavy
metals such as Fe, Cu, Mg and Zn (6).
Monotypic meadows have been recognized
as well developed true grass meadows of the
alpine tundra (1).
SYN: D. caespitosa
Plant Characteristics
GENERAL HABITAT CONSIDERATIONS
Soil Types and Conditions: Grows vigourously on nutrient rich,
well saturated, occasionally moderately saline to alkaline, coarse or
medium textured, sandy loam, clayey loam or high
metal soils. Doesn’t tolerate year long flooding but can handle short
term waterlogging (2, 11, 12).
Moisture/temperature requirements: Often in prairies, bogs, stream
banks, lake shores, spruce-fir belts above 1,219 m (4,000 ft) wet
mountain meadows, gravelly river bars and rocky ridges(5, 8, 11).
Circumglobal distribution but rarely found in dense shade.
Precipitation ranges from 355-609 mm (14-24 in) with good cold
resistance of -25 C (-13 F).
Management Considerations
UTILIZATION
Forage and Palatability: Relished by all classes of livestock,
especially important alpine forage for sheep (1). Palatability varies
by site location but can produce good pasture hay if harvested before
maturity.
Wildlife Use: On the Rocky Mountains elk graze tufted hairgrass
during the spring and early summer. It is considered fair to good
forage for all other wild ungulates. One study observed bears grazing
Tufted Hairgrass (12).
PLANTING
Growth Season and Seedling Establishment: Development begins
in early spring, flowers in July to September followed by fruit
production from August to September. Plants grown from plugs or
seeds have high establishment rates. Fertilization during periods of
adequate moisture increases establishment (4, 9).
Propagation: Grown from plugs and seeds with variable viability
(9, 12).
VEGETATIVE CHARACTERISTICS
Culms and leaves: Extending 2-8 dm (0.62.6 ft) high, strongly caespitose, tufted,
unbranched and smooth perennial grass.
Leaves, emerging from the base, are firm, flat
or folded and bright green (2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 11).
Inflorescence: Loose, 1-2 dm (4-8 in) wide
(11), triangular, highly branched, drooping,
harsh, hairlike panicle. Spikelets are reddishpurple and two flowered. They are bore at
the branch apex occasionally with a sterile
floret at the tip. Florets resemble culivated
oats with very small awns (5).
Roots: Fibrous roots with a well developed
aerenchyma system allow for short term
anaerobic conditions (4).
Cultivars:
Nortran (Deschampsia caespitosa) 1986
Agricultural & Forestry Experiment
Station
Northern Lights, Schottland, Tardiflora
(Deschampsia caespitosa)
Ortamental Commerical use
Prepared by OSU Rangeland Ecology and Management,
February 2005.
DISTURBANCE
Response to Competition: Competes well with other plants at high
elevation, but competitiveness decreases in drought years. Has been
found invading degraded riparian areas.
Response to Grazing: Densely tufted grasses increasing its ability
to handle moderate grazing or trampling. Years of excessive grazing
can cause a decrease in viability. In the Klamath Falls Basin, heavy
ungulate defolitaton caused a decrease in Hairgrass and an increase
of Kentucky Bluegrass, Poa pratensis (2, 4).
Response to Fire: Generally survives all fires except severe ones,
but is known to grow vigorously post-fire. More likely to survive
and resprout following late season fire, when the plant is dormant,
than at any other point in the growing season (12).
Response to Drought: Moderate drought tolerance at high elevations.
Drought reduces vigor creating difficulty in competing for resources.
Sources:
1. Bonham, Charles. 1972. Vegetation Analysis of Grazed
and Ungrazed Alpine Hairgrass meadows. J. of Range Manage.
25(4) 276-279.
2. Cook, Sarah. 1997. A Field Guide to the Common Wetland
Plants of Western Washington and Northwestern Oregon. Seattle:
Seattle Audubon Society. 417p.
3. Cronquist, A., et al. 1997. Intermountain Flora: Vascular
Plants of the Intermountain West, U.S.A. Vol6. New York: Columbia
University Press.
4. Merrill, Evelyn H. and Patricia J.S. Colberg. 2003.
Defoliation, waterlogging and dung influences allocation patterns
of Deschampsia caespitosa. J. of Range Manage. 56(6) 634-639.
5. Oregon State Cooperative Extension Service. Tufted
Hairgrass. Range plant leaflet #52.
Tufted Hairgrass
Deschampsia caespitosa
(L.) Beauv.
6. Paschke, Mark W., Edward F.
Redente and David B. Levy. 2000. Zinc
Toxicity thresholds for important
reclamation grass species of the Western
United States. Environmental Toxicology
and Chemistry. 19(11) 2751-2756.
7. Pratt, M, J. Bowns, R. Banner
and A. Rasmussen. 2002. Tufted Hairgrass.
In: Range plants of Utah, Utah State
University Extension,
http://extension.usu.edu/rangeplants/Gras
ses/tuftedhairgrass.htm. Accessed February
2005.
8. Stubbendieck, James, Stephan
Hatch, and L. Landholt. 2003. North
American Wildland Plants: A Field Guide.
6th ed., University of Nebraska Press.
9. Theodose, Theresa A. and
William D. Bowman. 1997. The influence
of interspecific competition on the
distribution of an alpine graminoid:
Evidence for the importance of plant
competition in an extreme environment.
OIKOS 79(1) 101-114.
10. University of Alaska at
Fairbanks. Cooperative Extension.
www.uaf.edu/coop-ext/publications/
freepubs/FGV-00245.pdf [Accessed
February 2005.]
11. U.S. D.A., Forest Service. 1937.
Range plant handbook. Washington, DC.
532p.
12. Walsh, Roberta A. 1995.
Deschampsia cespitosa. In: Fire Effects
Information System, [Online].
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest
Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station,
Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer).
Available:http://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/
[2005, February 23].