Hard-grasses
What are they?
This group of grasses consists of a relatively small number of grass species which tend to be small, easily overlooked and have a stiff, wiry feel to them. Indeed, the tough, shiny texture can almost make them seem as if they're made of plastic. The flower spikes are mostly rather small and compact, in a number of species being reduced to solitary rows of florets which are stalkless and embedded into the main stem.
Where are they found?
The stiff, wiry nature of these plants is usually due to an adaptation to a salty environment, with the stiffness being produced by thick outer layers to the stems which protect the plant from the dehydrating nature of coastal environments. Thus, most species are commonly found in coastal habitats, but some have also spread inland, along the margins of salted roads.
Identification
Click here for help with some of the terminology used on the grass pages. The overall appearance of the flower spikes will help to narrow your identification search, while closer attention to the detail of the flower parts will be required for some groups, such as the hard-grasses.
Rigid Fern-grass Catapodium rigidum
A native annual, widespread in dry ground near the sea and in sandy places and common on walls in urban environments. Flowers May to July. Plants 2-30cm in height, typically forming tight tussocks or solitary shoots in small colonies. Plants green, or becoming reddish in very dry and sunny places. Leaf blades 0.5-3.5mm wide, hairless, minutely rough on the veins. Leaf sheaths rounded and smooth. Ligule membranous, very short, 1-3mm long. Flower spike stiffly upright, 1-8cm long. Spikelets 4.5-7mm with 3-10 florets, tightly clustered along side branches of the flower spike. Lemmas narrowly obtuse at apex overlapping at first, later becoming more open.
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Sea Fern-grass Catapodium marinum
A native annual, widespread but often rather local in dry ground near the sea and occasionally beside salted roads inland. Flowers May to July. Plants 3-20cm in height, typically forming small tussocks or solitary shoots. Plants green, or becoming reddish in very dry and sunny places. Leaf blades 1-3.5mm wide, hairless, minutely rough on the veins. Leaf sheaths rounded and smooth. Ligule membranous, very short, 0.5-3mm long. Flower spike stiffly upright, 0.5-7cm long. Spikelets 4-9mm with 4-12 florets, arranged in two rows on one side of the main stem, thus producing a 'one-sided' appearance. Lemmas elliptical, overlapping at first, later becoming more open.
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Common Hard-grass Parapholis strigosa
A native annual of saltmarsh, particularly on compacted mud where saltmarsh meets sandy or gravelly substrate. More recently also along the margins of salted roads. Flowers June to August. Plants to 40cm in height, either solitary or in loose clusters. Leaves greyish-green to bright green, hairless, pointed at the tip, 1-2.5mm wide, flat or sometimes inrolled. Leaf ligule membranous, 1.8-3mm long, upper sheaths not inflated. Flower spike a narrow, stiff and upright or slightly curved, extension of the stem, 2-20cm in length. Spikelets 3-7mm, single-flowered and embedded in the stem, alternating from side to side. Glumes 3-7mm, stiff, pointed at the tip and neatly fitting over the hollow in the stem. Anthers 2mm long.
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Curved Hard-grass Parapholis incurva
An uncommon native annual of saltmarsh edge, particularly on compacted mud where saltmarsh meets sandy or gravelly substrate. Flowers June to July. Plants 2-20cm in height, either solitary or in loose clusters. Leaves green, hairless, pointed at the tip, 1-2mm wide, flat or sometimes inrolled, upper sheaths inflated. Leaf ligule membranous, 1.8-3mm long. Flower spike a narrow, stiff and slightly to strongly curved, extension of the stem, 1-8cm in length. Spikelets 4-6mm, single-flowered and embedded in the stem, alternating from side to side. Glumes 4-6mm, stiff, pointed at the tip and neatly fitting over the hollow in the stem. Anthers 0.5-1.5mm long.
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One-glumed Hard-grass Parapholis cylindrica
(Hainardia cylindrica) Introduced from southern Europe and recorded only once, from a rubbish tip near Norwich in 1972. Flowers May to June. A plant that very closely resembles our native hard-grasses but which differs most obviously in having only a single glume covering each floret. This can easily be seen by simply bending the stiff flower spike to lift the glumes.
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Mat-grass Nardus stricta
A native perennial, which can be dominant and abundant in upland grassland in northern and western Britain but is rare and declining in East Anglia. Found in small quantity on a scattering of dry, sandy and acidic heaths, dunes and grasslands. Flowers June to August. Plants 10-40cm in height, forming small, wiry tussocks. Leaves 0.5mm wide, tough, sharply-pointed and inrolled. Leaf sheaths rounded, smooth. Ligule membranous, 0.5-2mm long. Flower spikes narrow, stiff and upright, 3-8cm in length, purple-tinged and with all the spikelets on one side. Spikelets 5-9mm, 1-flowered and inset into the axis of the spike. Glumes tiny, with the upper often absent altogether. Lemmas 6-9mm, two- to three-keeled and tapered to a fine awn at the tip. A tiny and easily overlooked species in East Anglia.
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