Shrubs
Big sagebrush
The gray-green shrub of Utah's open valleys and basins, and essential to sage grouse.
Indian ricegrass
Utah's state grass, a drought-tolerant bunchgrass found on most of the state's rangeland.
Indian ricegrass is the state grass of Utah and one of the most widely adapted native grasses on Utah rangelands, found from about 3,000 to 10,000 feet. It grows in separate clumps, a bunchgrass habit that reduces competition for scarce water and nutrients.
Its plump, protein-rich seeds feed upland birds, and American Indian tribes ground them into flour. It is valuable forage for big game and livestock. The National Park Service says plants can live more than 100 years and go dormant in drought.
Seeing it
The gaps between the clumps are part of how desert grasses share scarce water, not bare ground.