Achnatherum hymenoides (Roem. & Schult.) Barkworth

vernacular Indian ricegrass — species · Poaceae

USDA: ACHY
GBIF: 5676924 syn.
Rank: species

Indian ricegrass (Achnatherum hymenoides) — Platephotograph · jamie_fennemanCC BY-NC source · iNaturalist ↗

§2Habit & range

Growth habit: Graminoid
Duration: Perennial
Group: Monocot
Family: Poaceae Barnhart
Genus: Achnatherum

§2a

Native status, by region

CAN Canada Native
L48 Lower 48 States Native

§2b

County-level range

· 18 counties across 1 state

Legend Native · 18 Introduced · 0 Both · 0 Hover a county for detail.

§3Cultivation specs · USDA

Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.

§3a

Tolerances

Drought: High
Shade: High
Moisture use: Low
Fire: High
Salinity: Low
Anaerobic: None
CaCO₃: High
Hedging: None

§3b

Climate & soil

Cold tolerance: -43 °F minimum
Frost-free days: 90 min.
Precipitation: 6–16 in/yr
pH range: 6.6–8.6
Root depth: 18 in min.
Fertility need: Low
Soil texture: coarse, medium

§3c

Form & growth

Growth form: Bunch
Growth rate: Moderate
Lifespan: Short
Mature height: 2 ft
Foliage texture: Medium
Foliage colour: Green
Porosity (summer): Moderate
Porosity (winter): Porous
Flower colour: Yellow
Fruit colour: Brown
Fire resistant: No
N fixation: None
Toxicity: None

§3d

Reproduction

Bloom period: Late Spring
Seed abundance: Medium
Seed begins: Spring
Seed ends: Summer
Spread rate: Moderate
Stratify: Yes
Seeds / lb: 161,920
Propagation: seed

§3e

Use & availability

Commercial availability: Routinely Available
Nursery stock: No
Browse palatability: High
Graze palatability: High
Palatable, human: No
Protein potential: Medium
Lumber: No
Christmas tree: No

§4Counties, by state

Recorded in 18 counties across 1 state.

Montana view state ↗ 18 N ▾

§5Sources & provenance

USDA PLANTS

Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.

plants.usda.gov/ACHY ↗

GBIF Backbone

Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.

gbif.org/species/5676924 ↗

Record version

Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:

usda-plants-mt-2026-05-25

fetched 2026-05-25T18:27:19Z