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PRAIRIE JUNEGRASS

Koeleria macrantha 

(Ledeb.) J.A. Schultes

Plant Symbol = KOMA

Contributed by: USDA NRCS Idaho State Office 

©Larry Allain. USGS NWRC

Alternate Names 

Koeleria cristata; mountain junegrass, junegrass, 

Uses 

Grazing/Livestock – Prairie junegrass is a component 

of many native plant communities. It commonly 

represents up to 5 percent of the community. It 

greens up early in the spring and provides good early 

spring forage and fair late spring forage for livestock. 

Wildlife – Prairie junegrass is considered a fair to 

good forage for elk throughout the year and is 

desirable forage for deer and antelope in the spring 

and early summer. 

Reclamation – Prairie junegrass is used as a 

component of native seed mixtures in revegetation of 

mined lands, heavy use areas and other surface 

disturbed lands. 

Status 

Consult the PLANTS Web site and your State 

Department of Natural Resources for this plant’s 

current status (e.g. threatened or endangered species). 

Description 

General: Prairie junegrass is a native, perennial, cool 

season tufted bunchgrass found on rangelands, plains 

and open forestlands. It is commonly 0.5- 2 feet tall. 

The narrow leaves form small basal clusters from 

which arise several seedheads. Leaves are basal, flat 

to in-rolled and sharply pointed. The seedheads are 

narrow contracted panicles and have the appearance 

of dense spikes, one per stem. The spikelets are 

normally pale green to purplish in color. Fine hairs 

are found on the reproductive stem just below the 

seedhead. The glumes are sharp and shiny. This is 

one of the first grasses to green-up in the early spring. 

Prairie junegrass is a perennial grass of medium 

longevity found in a wide variety of native plant 

communities. 

Intermountain Flora - drawn by Jeanne R. Janish. 

University of Washington Press. 
This species is often mistaken for muttongrass (Poa 

fendleriana) and spike trisetum (Trisetum wolfii), but 

can be distinguished by the hairy panicles and 

smaller spikelets. 

Distribution: The range of prairie junegrass extends 

from Ontario to British Columbia, south to Delaware, 

California and Mexico. For additional information on 

distribution, consult the Plant Profile page for this 

species on the PLANTS Web site. 

Adaptation 

Prairie junegrass is cold, heat and drought tolerant 

and grows on rangeland meadows, plains, mountain 

foothills and open forestlands. It does best at 12- 20 

inches annual precipitation. It is most commonly 

found at elevations from 4,000- 8,000 feet, but occurs 

up to 11,500 feet in the central Rocky Mountains. 

It is found primarily as a component of native plant 

communities in open and rocky areas. It is best 

adapted to well-drained soils such as silts to loams to 

sandy loams. It prefers 6.5- 8.0 pH soils. It has good 

tolerance to fire. 

Establishment 

Prairie junegrass is not recommended for fall or 

dormant fall seedings. It does best when seeded in the 

spring. Young plants are subject to thinning by frost 

heaving and soil cracking during winter and very 

early spring. 

The native accessions of this species have an average 

of 2,300,000 seeds per pound. The full monoculture 

seeding rate for drill application is 1 PLS pound per 

acre. Use the appropriate percentage of this rate when 

planting native seed mixtures. The seed should be 

planted into a clean, weed-free, firm seedbed at soil 

surface to 1/8-inch depth because seed requires light 

to achieve maximum germination. 

The exclusion of grazing animals until plants become 

well established is recommended. This may require 

up to 2- 3 growing seasons. 

 

Management

During the second to third growing season, seedheads 

will flower in mid-April to mid-June. Seed reaches 

maturity in July through August depending on 

latitude and elevation. Fall regrowth can occur if soil 

moisture conditions are favorable. 

Prairie junegrass greens up early in the spring. 

Grazing deferment until plants are 4- 6 inches tall is 

recommended to ensure the health of the plant and to 

reduce over-grazing. It is considered good forage in 

early spring, but as it matures in later spring, it 

becomes tough and less palatable. This grass has 

moderate to high tolerance to grazing. 

Prairie junegrass tends to increase in percent cover 

following fire events and is very resistant to fire. 

Pests and Potential Problems 

Prairie junegrass may be vulnerable to some insects 

such as the striped flea beetle which will cause the 

leaf tips to wilt. 

Environmental Concerns 

Prairie junegrass is medium-lived native species, 

spreading primarily via seed. It is not considered to 

be "weedy" or an invasive species, but it can spread 

into adjoining vegetative communities under ideal 

climatic and environmental conditions. It does not 

generally spread from original stands, or if it does 

spread, the rate of spread is slow. 

Seed Production 

Seed production of prairie junegrass has been 

successful under cultivated conditions. Row spacing 

of 24 inches under irrigation or high precipitation (> 

16 inches annual precipitation) to 36 inches under 

dryland conditions is recommended. Seeding rates 

for seed production range from 0.75 pound PLS per 

acre on dryland to 1.0 pound PLS per acre under 

irrigated conditions. 

It should be seeded in locations where weeds are well 

controlled. Prairie junegrass seedlings are not 

vigorous, are slow to establish and are therefore 

vulnerable to mechanical (wheel and foot traffic) and 

chemical damage. Wait until the 3- 5 leaf stage 

before applying herbicides at a low rate (bromoxynil 

according to label) or clipping for weed control. 

Cultivation between rows will be needed for weed 

control and to maintain row culture. 

Seed fields are productive for about 4- 5 years. Field 

moisture during the fall, soil fertility, and plant regrowth determine the yield the succeeding year. 

Average production of 75 pounds per acre can be 

expected under dryland conditions in 16- inch plus 

rainfall areas. Average production of 100- 150 

pounds per acre can be expected under irrigated 

conditions. 

Harvesting can be completed by direct combining in 

the hard-dough stage or by windrowing followed by 

combining. Windrowing may help ensure a more 

complete threshing and more uniform in ripening. 

Windrowing also reduces the risk of loss of seed 
from wind. Seed is generally harvested from early 

July to late August. Seed must be dried immediately 

after combining (moisture content should be 12 

percent in bins/15 percent in sacks). 

Not all native ecotypes readily produce viable seed. 

Many ecotypes generally go through anthesis, but not 

all will produce viable seed at an economically 

acceptable level. 

Cultivars, Improved, and Selected Materials 

‘Barkoel’ prairie junegrass is the only release of this 

species. It originates from Barenbrug, Holland, 

Oosterhout, The Netherlands. It is a selection of 

clones after three years of testing under turf 

conditions. The clones were chosen on basis of good 

winter color and good seed yield. Barkoel is intended 

for use as a cool-season turfgrass and not intended for 

native plantings. Seed is available through Barenbrug 

USA, PO Box 239, Tangent, OR 97389, (503) 926-

5801. 

Contact your local Natural Resources Conservation 

Service (formerly Soil Conservation Service) office 

for more information. Look in the phone book under 

”United States Government.” The Natural Resources 

Conservation Service will be listed under the 

subheading “Department of Agriculture.” 

References 

Alderson, J. and W. C. Sharp. 1994. Grass varieties 

in the United States. Agriculture Handbook No. 170. 

USDA, SCS, Washington, DC. 

Cornforth, B., L. St. John and D. G. Ogle. 2001. 

Technical Note 14: Seed production standards for 

conservation plants in the Intermountain West.

USDA-NRCS, Boise, ID. 15p. 

Cronquist, A., A.H. Holmgren, N.H. Holmgren and 

J.L. Reveal. 1977. Intermountain Flora: Vascular 

Plants of the Intermountain West, U.S.A. The New 

York Botanical Garden. 

Hitchcock, A.S. (rev. A. Chase). 1950. Manual of the 

grasses of the United States. USDA Misc. Publ. No. 

200. Washington, DC. 1950.

Ogle, D. G., L. St. John, M. Stannard and L. 

Holzworth. 2006. Technical Note 24: Grass, grasslike, forb, legume, and woody species for the 

intermountain west. USDA-NRCS, Boise, ID. 42p. 

Smith, R., S. Smith, R. Haas, and L. Holzworth. 

1998. Native Grass Seed Production Manual, USDANRCS, Bismarck, ND and Ducks Unlimited Canada. 

155 p. 

USDA, NRCS. 2006. The PLANTS Database, 

Version 061010. (http://plants.usda.gov). National 

Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge, LA USA. 

Prepared By 

Daniel G. Ogle 

USDA-NRCS, Idaho State Office, Boise, ID 

Loren St. John 

USDA-NRCS, Plant Materials Center, Aberdeen, ID 

Mark Majerus 

USDA-NRCS, Plant Materials Center, Bridger, MT 

Derek Tilley 

USDA-NRCS, Plant Materials Center, Aberdeen, ID 

Dr. Thomas A. Jones 

USDA-ARS, Forage & Range Research Laboratory, 

Logan, UT 

Steve Parr 

Upper CO Environmental Plant Center, Meeker, CO 

Species Coordinator 

Daniel G. Ogle 

USDA-NRCS, Idaho State Office, Boise, ID 

Edited: 032608dgo; 05may06taj; 09may06djt; 11may06ls; 05june05mm, 

06oct06sp; 10oct06jsp 

For more information about this and other plants, please contact 

your local NRCS field office or Conservation District, and visit the 

PLANTS Web site<http://plants.usda.gov> or the Plant Materials 

Program Web site <http://Plant-Materials.nrcs.usda.gov> 

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