Aristida

Aristida is the dominant grass, and for brief periods it can yield a nutritious forage called ashab.

The most common grasses include Aristida, Cenchrus, and Schoenefeldia. Other species, which are highly palatable to grazing animals, are now restricted to rocky sites that offer some protection; these species may have once been far more widespread and important. In many places where shrubs and small trees occur the vegetation…