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Days to maturity
Seasonal yields
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Plant · P-700
Indian Ricegrass
Eriocoma hymenoides
Indian Ricegrass is a desert bunchgrass that holds loose sand in place where few other perennial grasses will grow, and it cures standing in the field into a winter feed that livestock and wildlife keep eating through the cold months. Its large protein-rich seed was a staple food across the arid west, traditionally beaten from the heads and parched to burn off the fine hairs before grinding into meal. The seed coat is thick and dormant, so most plantings are sown in autumn and left for winter cold to do the work of breaking it.
Record at a glance
Growing profile
- Sun
- Full Sun
- USDA zone
- USDA 4–10
- Soil
- Sand · Loam · Clay
- Moisture
- Dry · Well-Drained
Vertical layer
Herbaceous- Soil pH
- 6–8
- Plant type
- Perennial
- Mature height
- 12–24 in
- Mature spread
- 12 in
- Plant spacing
- 24–36 in
- Root type
- Fibrous-deep
- Spread pattern
- Seed
Keep exploring
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Vigna angularis (Willd.) Ohwi & H.Ohashi
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African Eggplant
Solanum aethiopicum
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Agrimony
Agrimonia eupatoria
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Alfalfa
Medicago sativa
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Aloe Vera
Aloe vera
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Amaranth Greens
Amaranthus tricolor
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The deeper layer
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- Primary
- Locked ecological function
- Secondary
- Locked ecological function
- Byproduct
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Behind the record
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