Hi my nameâs Kathleen, and Iâm a vegetation intern at Rocky Mountain National Park.
Today Iâll be talking to you about Prairie junegrass, one of our restoration species.
Hello, and welcome back to the greenhouse at Rocky Mountain National Park.
As you can see weâve got a full house and are ramping up our native plants in preparation
for restoration projects this summer.
Today I wanted to highlight a species shown in my last video, Koeleria macrantha, also
known as Prairie junegrass.
These plants were sewn a couple of months ago and seem to be doing well, so from now
until theyâre planted this summer, we will water them and give them the occasional trim.
These Koeleria will be planted in Aspen Glen campground, which as you can see on the map
is on the east side of the park near the Fall River entrance.
Areas impacted by high visitor use or construction can take a significant toll on the plant communities.
Revegetating these areas with native plants prevents further deterioration and erosion
while also preventing exotic plant invasion.
Koeleria macrantha is part of the Poaecae or Grass family.
Its leaves have a blue-green color and they form clumps or tufts.
Itâs a native perennial meaning it lives more than two years, and is a cool-season
bunchgrass found on rangelands, plains, and open forestlands.
Koeleria is a drought tolerant plant and can actually improve site conditions after a drought
for other species in the community.
Itâs also fire-resistant and will increase its ground cover after fire events occur.
This makes Koeleria a really beneficial species to use because if we have some drought summers
after restoration, some more traditional restoration species might struggle or die whereas Koeleria
may continue to prosper.
Often, grasses get a bad rap for acting like weeds and growing uncontrollably,
but Koeleria is actually slow to establish and unlikely to spread from its original stand.
It thrives in cooler, dry, infertile soil, and actually played a significant role in
prairie restoration following the dust storms and severe drought of the 1930s.
So, now you know a little more about our unsung hero, Prairie junegrass or Koeleria macrantha
and the next time youâre outside give grasses some love and appreciation for all that they do.
See you next time!