Wild - ID common grasses

Question 1

Lower sheaths hairy
Very long spined awns
Large, shrivelled ligule

Answer 1

Barren Brome
(Anisantha Sterilis)

Question 2

Spikelets overlapping
Spikelets parallel to stem

Answer 2

Common Couch
(Elymus repens)
or
(Elytriga repens)

Leaf slightly glaucous, grooved and rough. Drooping.
Leaf margins serrated.
Spikelets infloresences, spikelets overlapping

Question 3

Answer 3

Soft Brome
(Bromus Hordeaceus)

Soft hairy leaves, stems and fruits
Dark green
Flower head erect with swollen conical heads

Question 4

Answer 4

Sweet Vernal Grass
(Anthoxanthum odoratum)

Auricle fringed with whisker-liked hairs
Flowers are short spikes, early in the year
Short leaves, glossy beneath
Roots have disinfectant/almond smell

Question 5

Answer 5

Wall Barley
(Hordeum murinum)

Question 6

Answer 6

Yellow Oat-grass
(Trisetum flavescens)

Hairy lower leaves and sheaths, short ligule
Branched infloresences with 3 awns, resembling feather duster when closed, then opens up to golden-yellow delicate heads

Question 7

Wide, waxy, dark droopy leaves.
Large, clasping red/purple auricles; purple nodes

Answer 7

Giant Fescue
(Schedonorus gigantea)

Wide, waxy, dark droopy leaves. Rough if rubbed down
Large, clasping red/purple auricles; purple nodes
Large, drooping panicle with small spikelets

Question 8

Answer 8

Wood Melick
(Melica uniflora)

Leaves slightly hairy above, rough below
Leaf sheath prolonged into a bristle
Loose, dangling purple-brown, rice-like heads

Question 9

Bristly hairy stems and leaves
Branches in pairs

Answer 9

Hairy Brome
(Bromopsis ramosa)

Very tall with bristly hairy stems and leaves
Dangly flower head with branches in pairs
Sometimes pointed auricles wrapped around stem

Question 10

Wide leaves; yellowish, soft and hairy, floppy
Unbranched flower heads

Answer 10

False Brome
(Brachypodium sylvaticum)

Wide leaves; yellowish, soft and hairy, floppy
Loose tussocks up to 60cm tall, hairy stems
Long dangly unbranched flower heads

Question 11

Needle-like, hairless, smooth dark-green leaves
Short, rounded ligule
Small glossy flowers on wavy stems

Answer 11

Wavy Hair-grass
(Deschampsia flexuosa)

Needle-like, hairless, smooth dark-green leaves
Short, rounded ligule
Small glossy flowers on wavy stems

Question 12

Leaves ridged, smooth when stroked towards tip, barbed other way

Answer 12

Tufted Hair-grass
(Deschampsia cespitosa)

Big tussocks
Leaves ridged, smooth when stroked towards tip, barbed the other way
Very long raggedy ligule
Big feathery open flowerheads

Question 13

Slightly pink stripy pyjamas, less distinct than lanatus
Leaves look less hairy but still feel like velvet
Hairy nodes, hairless below

Answer 13

Creeping Soft-grass
(Holcus mollis)

Question 14

Answer 14

Bearded Couch
(Elymus caninus)

Question 15

‘Tickle grass’
‘Cleric’s collar’

Answer 15

Common Bent
(Agrostis capillaris)

‘Tickle grass’ - very feathery panicle, branches stay open even after dieback
Panicle on long stem
Small ligule - ‘cleric’s collar’, wider than long
More common in nutrient poor habitats

Question 16

Ligule long and raggedy

Answer 16

Creeping Bent
(Agrostis stolonifera)

Panicle only open during flowering, denser than capillaris
Panicle on short stem
Ligule long and raggedy
Long creeping runners

Question 17

Answer 17

Red Fescue
(Festuca rubra)

Needle leaves at base, but flat on stem
Sheath tubed (no seam visible) and hairy
More spreading, less tussocky growth form
Stems up to 80cm
Larger spikelets than F. ovina

Question 18

Answer 18

Meadow Fescue
(Schedonorus pratensis)

Leaves <4mm
Small clear hairless auricle; sheaths smooth
Single branched panicle, clumpy fruits

Question 19

Noticeably rough feel to upper sheath

Answer 19

Rough meadow-grass
(Poa trivialis)

Keel-shaped leaves with tramlines, long ligule
Noticeably rough feel to upper sheath
Creeping stolons, upper leaf shorter than sheath

Question 20

Answer 20

Annual Meadow-grass
(Poa annua)

Short leaves with transverse wrinkles
Can be minute, prostrate or sprawling
Small branched panicle pointing to one side

Question 21

Answer 21

Smooth Meadow-grass
(Poa pratensis)

Leaves contract suddnely at tips.
Short erect stem leaf, smooth stems. Slightly glaucous.
Short ligule on flower stem
Creeping rhizomes

Question 22

Answer 22

Wood Meadow-grass
(Poa Nemoralis)

Very slender, shiny leaves
Leaves often sprawl on ground
Relatively large panicles

Question 23

Answer 23

Italian rye-grass
(Lolium multiflorum)

Similar to L. Perenne but often larger
More overlapping and awned florets
Found on cultivated ground

Question 24

Answer 24

Perennial Rye-grass
(Lolium perenne)

Waxy, shiny dark green leaves
Clasping auricle. Burgundy red /purple at base of stem
Spiked inflorescences, spikelets barely overlapping

Question 25

Answer 25

Crested Dogs-tail (Cynosurus cristatus) ## Footnote Lower leaves 90 stem leaves 45. Shiny below. Compact ligule without clasping auricle, sheath yellow One-sided erect spike, visible stem Dead heads persist into winter

Question 26

Answer 26

Cock's foot (Dactylis glomerata) ## Footnote Big, often glaucous Forms tussocks with folded leaves Base of stem flattened Very clumpy flowerheads - opens up to chicken's foot

Question 27

Velvet soft leaves and sheaths Pink 'stripy pyjamas' at stem base

Answer 27

Yorkshire fog (Holcus Lanatus) ## Footnote Velvet soft leaves and sheaths Pink 'stripy pyjamas' at stem base Pink-tinged flowerheads, opening to feathery heads in mid-summer before re-closing

Question 28

Rounded ligule

Answer 28

Meadow Foxtail (Alopecurus pratensis) ## Footnote Furry microphone flower head Single awn pointing up from each flower Slight knee-bend like bend at node Very long leaves and sheaths

Question 29

Answer 29

Timothy (Phleum pratense) ## Footnote Lower leaves up to 45cm long Infloresence 6-15cm Stem often wiggles below infloresence

Question 30

Tough glaucous leaves with tramlines, white spots and strong central nerve - somtimes twist dramatically

Answer 30

False Oat-grass (Arrhenatherum Elatius) (Helictochloa pratensis) ## Footnote Very tough glaucous leaves with tramlines forming spiky tussock White spots and strong central nerve on leaves, which angle off tightly and somtimes twist dramatically Simple plump oaty infloresence with 4 awns per floret