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Index / Search / Sphenopholis obtusata

§1 Plant

Sphenopholis obtusata (Michx.) Scribn.

vernacular prairie wedgescale — species · Poaceae

USDA
SPOB
GBIF
2703349
Rank
species
prairie wedgescale (Sphenopholis obtusata)
Platephotograph · Jake SmithCC BY-NC source · iNaturalist ↗

§2Habit & range

Habit and range

Growth habit
Graminoid
Duration
Annual, Perennial
Group
Monocot
Family
Poaceae Barnhart
Genus
Sphenopholis
§2a

Native status, by region

  • CAN Canada Native
  • HI Hawaii Introduced
  • L48 Lower 48 States Native
§2b

County-level range

· 1,157 counties across 47 states/territories
Legend Native · 1157 Introduced · 0 Both · 0 Hover a county for detail.

§3Cultivation specs · USDA

Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.

§3a

Tolerances

Drought
Low
Shade
Medium
Moisture use
Medium
Fire
None
Salinity
None
Anaerobic
Low
CaCO₃
Medium
Hedging
None
§3b

Climate & soil

Cold tolerance
-43 °F minimum
Frost-free days
80 min.
Precipitation
10–60 in/yr
pH range
5–7.5
Root depth
4 in min.
Fertility need
Medium
Soil texture
medium, fine
§3c

Form & growth

Growth form
Bunch
Growth rate
Moderate
Lifespan
Short
Mature height
3.2 ft
Foliage texture
Fine
Foliage colour
Green
Porosity (summer)
Moderate
Porosity (winter)
Porous
Flower colour
Green
Fruit colour
Brown
Fire resistant
No
N fixation
None
Toxicity
None
§3d

Reproduction

Bloom period
Spring
Seed abundance
Medium
Seed begins
Summer
Seed ends
Summer
Spread rate
Slow
Stratify
No
Seeds / lb
200,000
Propagation
seed, container
§3e

Use & availability

Commercial availability
Contracting Only
Nursery stock
No
Browse palatability
Low
Graze palatability
Low
Palatable, human
No
Protein potential
Low
Lumber
No
Christmas tree
No

§4Counties, by state

Recorded in 1,157 counties across 47 states/territories.

Alabama view state ↗ 22 N ▾
Arizona view state ↗ 11 N ▾
Arkansas view state ↗ 44 N ▾
California view state ↗ 10 N ▾
Colorado view state ↗ 20 N ▾
Delaware view state ↗ 1 N ▾
District of Columbia view state ↗ 1 N ▾
Florida view state ↗ 43 N ▾
Georgia view state ↗ 32 N ▾
Idaho view state ↗ 4 N ▾
Illinois view state ↗ 71 N ▾
Indiana view state ↗ 24 N ▾
Iowa view state ↗ 32 N ▾
Kansas view state ↗ 75 N ▾
Kentucky view state ↗ 26 N ▾
Louisiana view state ↗ 62 N ▾
Maine view state ↗ 1 N ▾
Massachusetts view state ↗ 6 N ▾
Michigan view state ↗ 7 N ▾
Minnesota view state ↗ 47 N ▾
Mississippi view state ↗ 25 N ▾
Missouri view state ↗ 67 N ▾
Montana view state ↗ 5 N ▾
Nebraska view state ↗ 38 N ▾
Nevada view state ↗ 9 N ▾
New Hampshire view state ↗ 2 N ▾
New Jersey view state ↗ 15 N ▾
New Mexico view state ↗ 12 N ▾
New York view state ↗ 20 N ▾
North Carolina view state ↗ 58 N ▾
North Dakota view state ↗ 30 N ▾
Ohio view state ↗ 4 N ▾
Oklahoma view state ↗ 28 N ▾
Oregon view state ↗ 4 N ▾
Pennsylvania view state ↗ 17 N ▾
Rhode Island view state ↗ 1 N ▾
South Carolina view state ↗ 25 N ▾
South Dakota view state ↗ 17 N ▾
Tennessee view state ↗ 40 N ▾
Texas view state ↗ 75 N ▾
Utah view state ↗ 17 N ▾
Vermont view state ↗ 1 N ▾
Virginia view state ↗ 68 N ▾
Washington view state ↗ 7 N ▾
West Virginia view state ↗ 5 N ▾
Wisconsin view state ↗ 20 N ▾
Wyoming view state ↗ 8 N ▾

§5Sources & provenance

USDA PLANTS

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

plants.usda.gov/SPOB ↗

GBIF Backbone

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

gbif.org/species/2703349 ↗

Record version

Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:

usda-plants-mt-2026-05-26

fetched 2026-05-26T20:46:58Z