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PORCUPINE-GRASS
Hesperostipa spartea
Family Poaceae - Grass Family
Division Anthophyta - Flowering Plants
Risk Status
Official status
Porcupine Grass is on British Columbia's Red
List (CDC=G5 S2).
Image Credits: sketch in Vascular Plants
of the Pacific Northwest, Hitchcock et al., 1971.
Distinguishing features
Porcupine Grass is a tufted, smooth perennial
usually 70-120 cm tall.
Distribution
Map
Red dots indicate specimen records or confirmed breeding sites.
British Columbia
Porcupine Grass is rare in southcentral British Columbia.
North America
It is found south to northwest and eastern Montana, Wyoming, Colorado,
and New Mexico, east to Ontario and south through most of the central
states to Pennsylvania.
Habitat
Prairies and grassy benchlands in the foothills and along rivers are
suitable habitat for Porcupine Grass as are dry to mesic
slopes and open forests in the steppe and montane zones.
Why is it endangered?
This species along with others of the grasslands communities are endangered
for a number of reasons. Livestock grazing, range re-seeding and off-road
recreation have modified much of the remaining "undeveloped"
grassland areas. In addition, cultivation, agricultural and urban development,
prescribed burning, forest encroachment, road and trail development, alien
plant and animal species introductions, and hydro-electric power projects
have caused outright, irreversible losses of native grassland species
in general.
Because grasslands have been so influenced by human activities, a relatively
large number of wildlife species associated with grasslands (including
this plant species) are listed as threatened or endangered. Because of
these combined influences and the relatively limited distribution of grasslands,
"ancient" grasslands represent a much more endangered space
in British Columbia than do "ancient" or old-growth forests.
Biology
Blooms from June to August.
Sources for more information
Related On-line Sites to Visit
Publications
The Vascular Plants of BC, MOF, pt. 4, 1990, p. 142
Vascular Plants of the Pacific Northwest, Hitchcock et al., 1971.
Museum Specimens
this section sponsored by:
Industry Canada
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