Hesperostipa comata

Needle and Thread Grass

A wild bunch of Needle and Thread grass.	In different light the seedheads look white.	Needle and Thread in the wind.
Extremely long awns against my car.	When the grass is fresh the awns look straight.	Hesperostipa comata awned florets have the paleas and seeds tucked tightly inside the slender, hairy, spear-like lemma (see below).
The hairy floret pulls out easily from the glumes. The awn arises from the top of this micro-photo.	The basal portion of the awn looks "furry" in microscopic view. New Mexican Needlegrass has much longer hairs.	The distal portion of the awn is smooth and not twisted.
After drying, the awns twist and become a tangled mess.	Each dry awn becomes doubly bent. Each is short-haired from the floret to the second bend.	Roots of Needle and Thread.

How to Identify Needle and Thread Grass

  The generic groups of the Tribe Stipeae are similar in many ways--often called the "needlegrasses." Hesperostipa comata and New Mexican Needlegrass are distinctive for their exceedingly long awns. Of these two, New Mexican Needlegrass awns have longer hairs, the basal part of the awn looking furry. When mature, the awns become bent and curly--see one up close by pulling it out of the glumes.

Similar Species

  You won't likely confuse it with Tanglehead, which also has twisted awns, because Tanglehead's seedheads appear dark brown. Tanglehead's awns
  Next, eliminate the long, furry awns of New Mexican Needlegrass.
  Now eliminate Desert Needlegrass, Pappostipa speciosa, (formerly Jarava speciosa). Its 3-inch awns are are distinctly shorter and the awn's basal segment has very long hairs.
  Achnatherum species have simelar floret shapes but are all much smaller and with much shorter awns. Two exceptions are Mormon Needlegrass in northern Arizona and Southwestern Needlegrass in the south. Both of these have 3-inch awns but the florets to which the awns attach are only about 1/4 inch.