Introductory
SPECIES: Deschampsia elongata | Slender Hairgrass 



ABBREVIATION : 
DESELO

SYNONYMS : 
NO-ENTRY


SCS PLANT CODE : 
   DEEL


COMMON NAMES : 
   slender hairgrass


TAXONOMY : 
The currently accepted scientific name of slender hairgrass is
Deschampsia elongata (Hook.) Munro (Poaceae) [11,14,19,25].  There are
no recognized infrataxa.


LIFE FORM : 
Graminoid

FEDERAL LEGAL STATUS : 
No special status

OTHER STATUS : 
NO-ENTRY


COMPILED BY AND DATE : 
Esser, Lora L. 1994


LAST REVISED BY AND DATE : 
NO-ENTRY


AUTHORSHIP AND CITATION : 
Esser, Lora L. 1994. Deschampsia elongata. In: Remainder of Citation

DISTRIBUTION AND OCCURRENCE
SPECIES: Deschampsia elongata | Slender Hairgrass 



GENERAL DISTRIBUTION : 
Slender hairgrass occurs from Alaska south throughout most of the
western United States and Mexico [14,15,16,20,35].  It also occurs in
Argentina and Chile [16,35].


ECOSYSTEMS : 
   FRES20  Douglas-fir
   FRES21  Ponderosa pine
   FRES22  Western white pine
   FRES23  Fir - spruce
   FRES24  Hemlock - Sitka spruce
   FRES25  Larch
   FRES26  Lodgepole pine
   FRES28  Western hardwoods
   FRES36  Mountain grasslands
   FRES37  Mountain meadows
   FRES41  Wet grasslands
   FRES42  Annual grasslands
   FRES44  Alpine


STATES : 
     AK  AZ  CA  CO  ID  MT  NV  NM  OR  UT
     WA  WY  AB  BC  YT  MEXICO


ADMINISTRATIVE UNITS : 
     CRLA  CRMO  GLAC  GRCA  GRTE  GRBA
     LAVO  MORA  NOCA  OLYM  PORE  REDW
     TICA  WHIS  YELL


BLM PHYSIOGRAPHIC REGIONS : 
    1  Northern Pacific Border
    2  Cascade Mountains
    3  Southern Pacific Border
    4  Sierra Mountains
    5  Columbia Plateau
    6  Upper Basin and Range
    7  Lower Basin and Range
    8  Northern Rocky Mountains
    9  Middle Rocky Mountains
   10  Wyoming Basin
   11  Southern Rocky Mountains
   12  Colorado Plateau


KUCHLER PLANT ASSOCIATIONS : 
   K001  Spruce - cedar - hemlock forest
   K002  Cedar - hemlock - Douglas-fir forest
   K003  Silver fir - Douglas-fir forest
   K004  Fir - hemlock forest
   K005  Mixed conifer forest
   K007  Red fir forest
   K008  Lodgepole pine - subalpine forest
   K011  Western ponderosa forest
   K012  Douglas-fir forest
   K013  Cedar - hemlock - pine forest
   K014  Grand fir - Douglas-fir forest
   K015  Western spruce - fir forest
   K018  Pine - Douglas-fir forest
   K020  Spruce - fir - Douglas-fir forest
   K021  Southwestern spruce - fir forest
   K022  Great Basin pine forest
   K025  Alder - ash forest
   K030  California oakwoods
   K038  Great Basin sagebrush
   K047  Fescue - oatgrass
   K048  California steppe
   K052  Alpine meadows and barren


SAF COVER TYPES : 
   205  Mountain hemlock
   206  Engelmann spruce - subalpine fir
   207  Red fir
   208  Whitebark pine
   209  Bristlecone pine
   210  Interior Douglas-fir
   211  White fir
   212  Western larch
   213  Grand fir
   215  Western white pine
   216  Blue spruce
   217  Aspen
   218  Lodgepole pine
   219  Limber pine
   221  Red alder
   222  Black cottonwood - willow
   224  Western hemlock
   226  Coastal true fir - hemlock
   227  Western redcedar - western hemlock
   228  Western redcedar
   229  Pacific Douglas-fir
   230  Douglas-fir - western hemlock
   235  Cottonwood - willow
   237  Interior ponderosa pine
   243  Sierra Nevada mixed conifer
   244  Pacific ponderosa pine - Douglas-fir
   245  Pacific ponderosa pine
   247  Jeffrey pine
   255  California coast live oak
   256  California mixed subalpine


SRM (RANGELAND) COVER TYPES : 
NO-ENTRY


HABITAT TYPES AND PLANT COMMUNITIES : 
Slender hairgrass occurs in a wide variety of habitats including maple
(Acer spp.), aspen (Populus spp.), fir-spruce (Abies-Picea spp.),
ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa), and lodgepole pine (P. contorta).  It
also occurs in alpine, subalpine forest, riparian forest, meadow, and
coastal prairie communities [13,17,24,30,35].

Slender hairgrass is an indicator species in lodgepole pine and
Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) forests of western Oregon [12].  

Slender hairgrass occurs in many wetland and riparian habitats.  In
Nevada, slender hairgrass is a component of the willow (Salix spp.)-forb
community type of the subalpine zone.  In northeastern California,
slender hairgrass occurs in the quaking aspen/skunkcabbage (Populus
tremuloides/Veratrum californicum) habitat type [30].  Slender hairgrass
occurs in the montane black cottonwood (P. trichocarpa) riparian forest
of California.  This is a dense, mixed riparian forest dominated by
black cottonwood with emergent Jeffrey pine (Pinus jeffreyi) towering up
to 150 feet (45 m) [17].

Slender hairgrass occurs in moist forests.  It is a member of the
lodgepole pine/California oatgrass (Danthonia californica) community on
moist sites in Washington and Oregon [5].  In the Cascade Ranges of
southern Oregon, slender hairgrass occurs in the western hemlock/Pacific
rhododendron-twinflower (Tsuga heterophylla/Rhododendron
macrophyllum-Linnaea borealis var. longiflora) association [1].  In
eastern Washingtion and northern Idaho, slender hairgrass occurs in
western redcedar (Thuja plicata) forests [3].  In larch-fir (Larix-Abies
spp.) forests of Montana, slender hairgrass occurs in two phases:  the
subalpine fir/queencup beadlily-rusty menziesia (A.
lasiocarpa/Clintonia uniflora-Menziesia ferruginea) phase and the
subalpine fir/queencup beadlily-beargrass (A. lasiocarpa/C.
uniflora-Xerophyllum tenax) phase [32].

Slender hairgrass also occurs in moderate to dry habitats.  In eastern
Washington and northern Idaho, slender hairgrass is a common understory
species in subalpine fir, grand fir (A. grandis), Douglas-fir, and
ponderosa pine forests [3].  In the Santa Lucia and Diablo ranges of
southern California, slender hairgrass can be found in the understory of
sugar pine (P. lambertiana), bristlecone fir (Abies bracteata), and
mixed oak-Coulter pine (Quercus spp.-Pinus coulteri) communities [10].
In the Sierra Nevada, slender hairgrass occurs in Jeffrey pine forests
[31].  Slender hairgrass has been a member of the fescue-oatgrass
(Festuca-Danthonia spp.) coastal prairie community along the coast of
California [13].  Slender hairgrass is a component of the subalpine forb
community in the Bridger-Teton National Forest of Wyoming [9].

Species not previously mentioned but commonly associated with slender
hairgrass include incense-cedar (Libocedrus decurrens), Rocky Mountain
maple (Acer glabrum), Pacific yew (Taxus brevifolia), erect willow
(Salix rigida), western chokecherry (Prunus virginiana var. demissa),
Oregon boxwood (Pachistima myrsinites), devil's club (Oplopanax
horridus), ninebark (Physocarpus malvaceus), oceanspray (Holodiscus
discolor), Wood's rose (Rosa woodsii), starry Solomon-seal (Smilacina
stellata), longstalk clover (Trifolium longpipes), salal (Gaultheria
shallon), Oregon-grape (Berberis nervosa), larkspur (Delphinium
nutallianum), western yarrow (Achillea millefolium), sweetscented
bedstraw (Galium triflorum), tufted hairgrass (Deschampsia cespitosa),
red fescue (Festuca rubra), western needlegrass (Stipa occidentalis),
blue wildrye (Elymus glaucus), prairie junegrass (Koeleria macrantha),
Columbia brome (Bromus vulgaris), Merten's rush (Juncus mertensianus),
and sedge (Carex spp.) [3,5,17,24,30].

VALUE AND USE
SPECIES: Deschampsia elongata | Slender Hairgrass 



WOOD PRODUCTS VALUE : 
NO-ENTRY


IMPORTANCE TO LIVESTOCK AND WILDLIFE : 
Slender hairgrass provides excellent forage in mountain meadows of
Arizona [20].  


PALATABILITY : 
NO-ENTRY


NUTRITIONAL VALUE : 
NO-ENTRY


COVER VALUE : 
NO-ENTRY


VALUE FOR REHABILITATION OF DISTURBED SITES : 
NO-ENTRY


OTHER USES AND VALUES : 
NO-ENTRY


MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS : 
NO-ENTRY

BOTANICAL AND ECOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS
SPECIES: Deschampsia elongata | Slender Hairgrass 



GENERAL BOTANICAL CHARACTERISTICS : 
Slender hairgrass is a native, perennial bunchgrass.  Culms are slender,
erect, ensely tufted, and usually 12 to 48 inches (30-120 cm) tall
[11,15,25,35].  The leaves have flat or folded blades from 0.04 to 0.06
inch (1-1.5 mm) wide [11,25,35].  The panicle is narrow and from 4 to 12
inches (10-30 cm) tall [11,35].


RAUNKIAER LIFE FORM : 
   Hemicryptophyte


REGENERATION PROCESSES : 
Slender hairgrass reproduces from seed and tillers.  
  


SITE CHARACTERISTICS : 
Slender hairgrass occurs in a wide variety of habitats including forest
openings, woodlands, grasslands, meadows, marshes, valley floodplains,
and stream and lake margins [11,16,23,24,35].  It is most commonly found
in moist soil in open to shaded habitats [12,14,16,23].  In Oregon,
slender hairgrass occurs from sea level to alpine zones [16].
Elevational ranges of slender hairgrass in several states are as follows
[1,20,24,25,33,35]:

                           feet                    meters

Arizona                 4,000-9,000              1,200-2,700      
California                  0-10,500                 0-3,150        
Montana                 4,900-4,950              1,470-1,485
Nevada                  8,050-8,800              2,455-2,685
Utah                    6,040-10,360             1,830-3,140

Slender hairgrass grows best on fine-textured sandy or gravelly soils
derived from glacial, volcanic, and sedimentary parent materials
[12,16,30].  
  


SUCCESSIONAL STATUS : 
Facultative Seral Species

Slender hairgrass is a facultative wetland species [27,28,29].
According to Hickman [14], it survives best in full or partial shade.
However, in Montana, slender hairgrass is more prominent in areas that
have been opened and disturbed by logging than in areas with undisturbed
vegetation [6].  In southwestern Oregon, slender hairgrass is an
indicator species in Douglas-fir forests that have been recently
harvested [8].  In the foothills of the western Cascades, Oregon,
slender hairgrass establishes in the early stages of secondary plant
succession after clearcutting [18].


SEASONAL DEVELOPMENT : 
Slender hairgrass flowers from May to August in California [25].  

FIRE ECOLOGY
SPECIES: Deschampsia elongata | Slender Hairgrass 



FIRE ECOLOGY OR ADAPTATIONS : 
NO-ENTRY


POSTFIRE REGENERATION STRATEGY : 
   Tussock graminoid

FIRE EFFECTS
SPECIES: Deschampsia elongata | Slender Hairgrass 



IMMEDIATE FIRE EFFECT ON PLANT : 
Perennial grasses are generally top-killed by fire so slender hairgrass
is probably top-killed by fire.  Its densely tufted growth form may
protect regenerative tissues from fires that are not severe.  Specific
fire effects, however, are not described in the literature.


DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF FIRE EFFECT : 
NO-ENTRY


PLANT RESPONSE TO FIRE : 
Studies of larch-Douglas-fir forest succession were conducted at Miller
Creek on the Flathead National Forest in Montana.  Eight study areas
were clearcut and then slashed to provide a uniform fuel bed.  Most
units were broadcast burned within 1 year after timber harvest.  Slender
hairgrass was a component of two units:  N-7 and S-1.  The N-7 unit was
logged in January of 1967, slashed in February of 1967, and
broadcast-burned June 18, 1968.  Postfire duff depth was 1.8 inches (4.5
cm), 51 percent of prefire depth.  The S-1 unit was logged in June 1967,
slashed in June 1967, and broadcast burned May 18, 1968.  Postfire duff
depth was 1.7 inches (4.3 cm), 84 percent of prefire depth.  Slender
hairgrass was not in the prefire community and was reported in only 2 of
the 9 postfire years.  Cover and volume development of slender hairgrass
were as follows [32]:

           Cover development of slender hairgrass (sq m/0.01 ha or %)

                                 succession year
                pre    1    2    3    4    5    6    7    8    9  

N-7              0     0    0    0    0    0    0    3    2    0
S-1              0     0    0    0    0    0    0    1    0    0

            Volume development of slender hairgrass (cubic m/0.01 ha)

                                 succession year
                pre    1    2    3    4    5    6    7    8    9

N-7              0     0    0    0    0    0    0   0.5  0.2   0
S-1              0     0    0    0    0    0    0   0.2   0    0
   


DISCUSSION AND QUALIFICATION OF PLANT RESPONSE : 
NO-ENTRY


FIRE MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS : 
NO-ENTRY

REFERENCES
SPECIES: Deschampsia elongata | Slender Hairgrass 



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Related categories for Species: Deschampsia elongata | Slender Hairgrass