Technical Abstract: Annual wheatgrass (Eremopyrum triticeum) is native to Russia. Formerly referred to as annual crested wheatgrass (Agropyron triticeum), annual wheatgrass is not a crested wheatgrass. Annual wheatgrass seedlings can appear to be that of the widely known annual weed cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum), but cheatgrass leaves are wider and with the ability to germinate in the fall, leaves often have a reddish color to them from insufficient nitrogen availability. As annual wheatgrass matures it becomes very distinctive as the seed heads have the wheatgrass characteristic. The spike is extremely compact with the florets set perpendicular to the central axis or rachis. Preliminary germination experiments in the Wildland Seed Laboratory, USDA-ARS, Reno, Nevada suggests that annual wheatgrass is at least equal to the germination potentials of the well known invasive annual weed cheatgrass as it also germinates at very cold and cold seedbed temperatures. Our extensive surveys of the rangelands of northern Nevada have identified the transition zone between Wyoming big sagebrush and salt desert plant communities as the key environments for locating annual wheatgrass infestations. The ecological importance of annual wheatgrass is that it illustrates that each seral stage in the continuum from Russian thistle and halogeton to exotic annual grass dominance is not a definite single species dominance position, but a true continuum of assemblages of species that can be broadened or made more diverse by new introductions