DACF Home → Bureaus & Programs → Maine Natural Areas Program → Communities, Plants, and Animals → Rare Plants → Sphenopholis obtusata
Sphenopholis obtusata (Michx.) Scribn.
Prairie wedge-grass
- State Rank: SH
- Global Rank: G5
- State Status: Potentially Extirpated
Habitat: Moist meadows, stream banks, and shores of ponds or lakes.
Range: Maine, south to Florida, west to California, north to British Columbia.
Aids to Identification: Prairie wedgegrass, or prairie wedgescale, is a solitary annual or short-lived perennial grass. Like other Sphenopholis species, S. obtusata has 2-flowered spikelets bearing a prolonged rachilla behind the upper palea. In S. obtusata, the spikelets are 3-4.2 mm long and the lowest rachilla segment is 0.5-0.7 mm long. The anthers are 0.5-0.8 mm long. The leaves are mostly 2-8 mm wide and under 10 cm long.
Ecological characteristics: None noted.
Phenology: Flowers May - July.
Family: Poaceae
Synonyms: Eatonia obtusata Gray; Sphenopholis obtusata (Michx.) Scribn. var. lobata (Trin.) Scribn.
Known Distribution in Maine: This rare plant has been documented from a total of 4 town(s) in the following county(ies): York.
Reason(s) for rarity: At northern limit of range.