Taeniatherum caput-medusae (medusahead wildrye).
Abstract T. caput-medusae is a self-pollinating, annual grass. It is originally from the Mediterranean region, occurring eastwards in Asia to Kyrgyzstan and northwards in Europe to Budapest in Hungary. Introduced to the Americas in at least seven events between 1887 and 1988, it now occupies over one million hectares of rangelands in the western USA where it is considered invasive and is listed as a noxious weed in many states, and is estimated to be spreading at a rate of 12% per year. In the western USA. It is highly competitive, forming monotypic stands that not only exclude native species but transform the ecological functioning of its invaded habitat to better facilitate its own survival to the detriment of the entire invaded ecosystem.
