Description

Siberian Wheatgrass is an introduced, cool-season, perennial bunchgrass that is closely related to the other crested wheatgrasses.  Once established,  all crested wheatgrasses can withstand heavy grazing (up to 70% utilization).  Like its relatives, Siberian Wheatgrass is long-lived, drought tolerant, winter hardy, and possesses an extensive root system.  Siberian Wheatgrass is more drought tolerant and better adapted to sandy soils than other crested wheatgrasses.  Consequently, on more arid sites, Siberian Wheatgrass is better than any of the other crested wheatgrasses in rate of establishment, stand persistence, and forage yield.  It has shown some success even on sites receiving as little as 5 inches of  precipitation.  It is palatable to all classes of livestock as well as wildlife, but protein levels decline rapidly following maturity.  Siberian Wheatgrass is good for stabilizing disturbed soils in areas receiving 8 to 16 inches annual precipitation and competes well with other aggressive introduced grasses.  It is also a very fire-tolerant species.