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| Category: Grass |
| Family: Poaceae (Gramineae) (Grasses) |
| Origin: Southwest (U.S.) (North America) |
| Bloomtime: Summer |
| Synonyms: [Stipa fimbriata, P. fimbriatum var. confine] |
| Height: 1-2 feet |
| Width: 1-2 feet |
| Exposure: Cool Sun/Light Shade |
| Summer Dry: Yes |
| Irrigation (H2O Info): Low Water Needs |
| Winter Hardiness: 10-15° F |
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Piptochaetium fimbriatum (Pinyon Ricegrass) - A very attractive perennial small clumping warm-season grass that grows with foliage to 1 to 2 feet tall with a 5-8 inch long loose panicle of long awned flowers rising above the foliage in summer. We are not aware of this plant being used in California landscapes but suggest trying this plant in dry shade gardens, though in our coastal California gardens it will likely tolerate full sun. Water sparingly if at all. Hardiness not known but likely to at least 10F. This plant is an understory component in oak and pinyon woods of the southwestern United States from southern Arizona to western Texas and southward into Mexico. It is a very attractive grass and is palatable for grazing deer and is used as nesting material by quail. Piptochaetium is primarily a South American genus with 27 species of which 4 are native to areas within the US. The elongated awn species such as P. fimbriatum were previously included with the genus Stipa. The name Piptochaetium comes from the Greek 'pipto' meaning "fall" and 'chaite' meaning "long hair", likely in reference to the old leaves at the base of the plant that are long, spreading, and curly. Our plants from seed we collected in 2008 on private property in the San Rafael Valley while on a "prairie dog" adventure with John Greenlee (AKA , The Grassman), Neal Debold (AKA Prairie Neal) and Arizona's own Scott Calhoun of Zona Gardens. This beautiful little grass, at first unidentified, was christened "Pseudostipa bitchenensis".
Information displayed on this page about Piptochaetium fimbriatum is based on our research conducted about this plant in our nursery library as well as from information provided by reliable online resources. We also include our own observations made about it as it has grown in the nursery gardens and other gardens visited, as well how the crops of this plant performed in the containers in our nursery field. We will also include comments received from others and welcome hearing from anyone who has information about this plant, particularly if it includes cultural information aiding others to better grow it.
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