Bluebunch wheatgrass

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Bluebunch Wheatgrass is a native North American perennial bunchgrass. It is known by the scientific name Pseudoroegnaria spicata, and by the scientific synonyms Elymus spicatus and Agropyron spicatum. The species Elymus wowowensis has recently been split apart from Pseudoroegnaria spicata by the eminent grass taxonomist Mary Barkworth.

Bluebunch wheatgrass can often be distinguished from other bunchgrasses by the awns on its seedheads which stand out at an angle nearly 90 degrees from the stem. It is often bluish in color. It is excellent forage for both livestock and native wildlife. It is the state grass of Montana. In Montana, it and other Palouse Prairie grasses are being widely displaced by perennial noxious weeds such as Spotted Knapweed (Centaurea maculosa), and annual grasses such as Cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum).