Photo Credit: Annette Casados USFWS

Cheat grass or Downy brome belongs to the Grass family, Poaceae.

• It is a cool season, winter annual plant that grows four inches to two feet tall.
• Inflorescence (flowering part of the plant) is a panicle of dense, slender, usually one sided spikelets on thin branches.
• Awns turn purple at maturity.
• Seed heads often get filled with black smut fungus converting the grains into a black dust (spores); otherwise they are soft and white giving them the name “downy.”
• Leaves are leaf sheaths which are flat and ciliate (marginal fringe of hairs).

For a complete Refuge species list

For in-depth plant information
connect with the U.S. Dept Agriculture Plant Data Base

Last Updated: 2/9/09

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Plants that do not grow naturally on this short grass prairie are called "invasive species."

INFORMATION from US Fish & Wildlife

INFORMATION from USGS

Cheat grass is a native of Europe specifically the Mediterranean region, transplanted in packing material found in Denver, Colorado. It can often be a nuisance, a fire hazard and often difficult to separate from other seed crop.

ANNUAL RYE
CANADA THISTLE
CHEAT GRASS
FIELD BINDWEED
KOCHIA
COMMON MULLEIN
MUSK THISTLE
RUSSIAN KNAPWEED
RUSSIAN OLIVE
RUSSIAN THISTLE