Crop Grasses
What are they?
This page covers the grass species which may be found cultivated as field crops in the East Anglian Region and which the botanist, naturalist or plant hunter may come across on their travels These species may be found being cultivated as a dominant crop plant or they may be found as individual plants that have self-sown from previous crops. A number of other grass species are grown in smaller quantity in mixed-species strips for 'game cover' or in conservation strips; these are not all covered on this page but should be identifiable through the usual route from the home page. They include - particularly - species of millet and bristle-grass.
Where are they found?
Crop plants will be found growing as monocultures in large fields throughout the arable regions of the county. Commonly, these crop species can be found as scattered, individual plants where spilt seed germinates along roadsides, on field margins and on rough ground.
Identification
Click here for help with some of the terminology used on the grass pages. Crop plants are generally relatively easy to identify by the appearance of their flower spikes and occasionally with the additional details of their leaves.
Bread Wheat Triticum aestivum
An introduced annual, commonly grown as a crop and often appearing where it self-seeds from spilt grain along field margins and bare road margins. Flowers May to July. Plants 40-100cm in height, variably tussocky or more often producing single stems when not cultivated. Leaf blades broad, 6-16mm wide, hairless but rather rough on the margins. Leaf sheaths rounded with short, curving auricles at the base of the leaf blade. Ligule membranous, short, with a blunt tip. Flower spike narrow, dense and upright. Spikelets 10-15mm long with 3-6 florets. Glumes broad, unawned 9-10mm long, toothed at the tip. Lemmas typically unawned, but occasionally with an awn up to 16cm long.
Older varieties of Bread Wheat are sometimes grown as a non-commercial crop in small quantity, including Spelt Wheat T. aestivum subspecies spelta and Emmer T. turgidum subspecies dicoccum. Compare with other barleys and wheats.
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Two-rowed Barley Hordeum distichon
An introduced annual, commonly grown as a crop and often appearing where it self-seeds from spilt grain along field margins and bare road margins. Flowers May to June. Plants 40-90cm in height, variably tussocky or more often producing single stems when not cultivated. Leaf blades broad, 14-15mm wide, hairless but rather rough. Leaf sheaths rounded with large, curving and overlapping auricles that wrap around the stem at the base of the leaf blade. Ligule membranous, short, with a blunt tip. Flower spike narrow, dense and upright. Spikelets in groups of three, the middle one fertile and stalkless, the outer two sterile and on short stalks. Glumes with awns 9-10mm long. Lemmas awned, those of the fertile spikelets being up to 12cm long. Compare with other barleys and wheats.
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Cereal Rye Secale cereale
An introduced annual, formerly grown as a crop, especially in Breckland on light sandy soils but now rather rare. Occasional plants turn up from sources of spilt grain. Flowers May to July. Plants 70-150cm in height, tussocky or more often producing single stems when not cultivated. Leaf blades 2-10mm wide, smooth or very slightly hairy. Leaf sheaths rounded. Ligule membranous, short. Flower spike strongly compressed in one plane, up to 20cm long, upright at first but later nodding. Spikelets 13-15mm long, compressed, with 2 florets. Glumes narrow, unawned or very shortly awned, 6-13mm long. Lemmas 7-15mm, shortly spiny along the margins, typically with an awn up to 5cm long. The whole plant is covered in a blue-grey pruinescence, which can also occur in Bread Wheat and Triticale. Compare with other barleys and wheats.
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Common Oat Avena sativa
An ancient introduction from southern Europe and once widely grown as a crop, but now far less commonly grown and only occasionally found as a crop remnant or from birdseed. Flowers July to September. Plants 30-150cm in height, loosely tussock-forming or stems solitary. Leaf blades 4-15mm wide, flat, rather rough, hairless or with marginal hairs. Leaf sheaths rounded, smooth. Ligule membranous, toothed. Flower spike very open, with long side branches. Spikelets 17-30mm with 2-3 florets. Lemmas 12-25mm, typically not awned or occasionally with an awn only on the lowermost lemma. Seedheads breaking up late, with each seed not bearing a rounded callus at the base, where it was attached to the stem. Compare with other oats and oat-grasses.
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Maize Zea mays
Originally from Central America, Maize is widely grown around the world as a food crop, as well as for cover on shooting estates. Plants occasionally self-sow from birdseed. Flowers August to October. Plants 200-300cm in height, upight and stout. Leaf blades up to 75cm in length and 2.5-12cm wide, green with a pale midrib, glossy, with ciliate hairs along the margins. Flower spikes in two forms with the male and female flowers carried on separate spikes - a male spike at the top of the plant and one to two female spikes lower down. Male flowers in long, narrow, branched spikes at the top of the plant, each spikelet with two florets. Female spikes thick and fleshy and hidden within several layers of papery, leaf-like bracts with the thread-like, silky stigmas projecting from the tip. The female spikes develop into the well-known 'corn cobs'.
Maize is the name used for the species Zea mays, but the word is also used more narrowly for crop plants intended as cattle fodder and which produce rather dry and hard seeds that are unfit for human consumption. The species also produces Sweet Corn in varieties that produce thicker, succulent seeds intended for human consumption.
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Giant Silver-grass Miscanthus x giganteus
An artifically created hybrid that is being increasingly planted as a crop to be converted to bifuel. Occasional plants are found on roadsides and rough ground. Flowers August to September. Plants 200-400cm in height, the stems at least 10mm thick. Leaf blades up to 1m in length and 6-20mm wide, green with a pale midrib, or may be purple or banded with cream in ornamental varieties. Flower spike consisting of a series of long, finger-like spikes. Spikelets 3.5-7mm, each with two florets, the lower sterile, the upper fertile. Lemmas without awns.
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