Grasses: Woodland & Shady Places
What are they?
This page aims to make the identification of grasses a little easier by bringing together the commoner species that are likely to be found in a particular habitat. This should help you to learn the more likely species that you will come across, though it should always be remembered that occasional individuals of other species may turn up in unexpected places from time to time.
Where are they found?
The grasses included on this page are the species m ost likely to be found in shaded areas. This includes woodland rides and edges, shady roadside banks and shady areas of grassland under trees, such as in overgrown areas of churchyards and cemeteries.
Identification
Identifying grasses successfully requires at least a basic knowledge of the plant parts and thus it's useful to know the names of these parts (it's much easier mentioning lemmas and glumes if one doesn't have to describe where they are every time!) To assist in this, you can click here to reference a page that gives details of these features. A good rule of thumb when working through the identification of any plant is to work from bottom to top with the whole plant and from outside to the middle with the flower parts (i.e. root, stem, leaf, flowers... sepal, petal, stamen, stigma) and this rule is generally followed here, though of course grass flowers have glumes, lemma, palea, stamens, stigma.
One important point to remember with grasses is that the flower spike can look very different according to how far along the process from flowering to setting seed that it is. Many species begin with a tight, rod-like cluster which opens out when in full flower and then closes back up again after pollination. Thus, it is important to look carefully at the parts of the florets (individual flowers) regardless of the shape of the overall flower spike, just to be sure. To get around this variability, botany books often write descriptions of grasses when they are said to be 'at anthesis'. This simply means at the point that the anthers open to release the pollen and this ensures that we are always looking at the flowers at the same point in their development. Grasses can still be identified outside of this point, but you need to understand that the overall spike might look different (the smaller flower parts will generally not change much, however). To simplify this a little, I have used the terms 'early flower spike/spikelets/florets' for spikes where the flowers have not yet reached anthesis; 'flowering spike' for plants at or around anthesis; 'late flower spike' for spikes where the flowers have passed anthesis and are progressing towards seed set. Where these terms are not used, you can assume that the flower spike doesn't change significantly in appearance over the course of the flowering period.
While this page contains the species that you are most likely to come across in most situations, it should be noted that most of them have look-alike, closely-related species. Therefore, it is recommended that you follow the link given for each species to the page where it will be compared in greater detail with possible confusion species, as a way of confirming your identification.
Common False-brome Brachypodium sylvaticum
A native perennial, common to abundant in shady places on heavier soils. Flowers July to August. Plants 30-90cm in height, forming densely tufted clumps. Leaf blades 6-12mm wide, narrowing very noticeably into the base, softly downy, upright when young but later arching over, pale green. Leaf sheaths rounded and hairy (sometimes hairless on the uppermost sheaths). Ligule membranous, 1-6mm in length. Flower spike upright at first, later strongly arching as the spikelets mature. Spikelets slender, strongly overlapping each other alternately along a central axis, 20-40mm with 8-16 florets. Lemmas 7-12mm, overlapping, downy, with an awn 7-15mm in length.
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Rough Meadow-grass Poa trivialis
A native perennial found in many types of grassy places such as lawns, meadows and roadsides, but especially favouring shady places. Flowers June to July. Plants 20-100cm in height and spreading to form extensive patches by means of many, non-flowering shoots (tillers). Leaf blades 1.5-6mm wide, hairless, pointed at the tip. Leaf sheaths keeled, slightly rough to the touch. Leaf ligule membranous, long. Flower spike open and spreading at anthesis and remaining open at fruiting, with 3-7 branches at the lowest node. Spikelets densely packed with 2-4 florets. Typically the largest of the three common meadow-grasses. Compare with other meadow-grasses.
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Wood Meadow-grass Poa nemoralis
A native perennial, thinly scattered in woodland and shady places. Flowers June to July. Plants 50-80cm in height, forming a loose tussock. Leaves 1-3mm wide, flat, green, soft and rather delicate. Leaf sheaths rounded, smooth. Ligule membranous, very short, 0.2-0.5mm in length. Flower spikes very delicate, narrow and upright but opening out by anthesis and soon becoming gracefully arched over, 3-20cm in length with many spikelets. Spikelets 3-6mm, 1-5 flowered, clustered towards the ends of thin and sinuous branchlets. Glumes equal or nearly so in length, fine pointed. Lemmas 2.6-3.6mm, keeled and pointed with membranous edges and tips. A delicate and graceful grass. Compare with other meadow-grasses.
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Creeping Soft-grass Holcus mollis
A native perennial, common on a variety of soils but most often found on dry soils in shady places and often forming creeping patches in dry birch wood and under gorse and bracken, where other grasses are shaded out. Flowers June to August. Plants 20-50cm in height, often forming leafy colonies with few or no flowering spikes. Leaf blades 3-12mm wide, softly hairy or hairless, flat and pointed. Leaf sheaths rounded, hairy. Ligule membranous, 1-5mm long. Flower spike very narrow when young, spreading at anthesis and remaining open with age. Spikelets 4-7mm with usually 2 florets. Lemmas keeled, the lower unawned, uppers with a slightly bent awn, 3.5-5mm long and clearly protruding beyond the glumes. Stem nodes downy but not conspicuously so.
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Yorkshire-fog Holcus lanatus
A native perennial, common to abundant in many kinds of grassy places and often forming large stands on roadsides, banks and rough ground. Flowers May to September. Plants 20-100cm in height, variously as spaced stems or densely tussock-forming according to land use and management. Leaf blades 3-10mm wide, softly hairy or downy, flat and pointed. Leaf sheaths rounded, hairy. Ligule membranous, short to medium. Flower spike very narrow when young and typically pinkish-purple in colour, spreading at anthesis and remaining open with age. Spikelets 4-6mm with usually 2 florets. Lemmas keeled, the lower unawned, uppers shortly awned. Compare with other oat-grasses.
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Common Bent Agrostis capillaris
A native perennial found in most grassy places but especially on acid soils. One of the few grasses that will readily grow in dry shade. Flowers June to August. Plants 10-70cm in height and spreading by short rhizomes to form slightly tufted patches. Leaf blades 1-5mm wide, hairless, finely pointed at the tip. Leaf sheaths rounded, smooth. Leaf ligule mebranous, long. Flower spike very narrow when young, open and spreading at anthesis and remaining open at fruiting. Spikelets tiny, 2-3.5mm, clustered towards the tips of very fine branchlets with a single floret in each spikelet. Lemmas not awned. Spikelets may be green (especially in shade) but are more often purplish. Compare with other bents.
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Tufted Hair-grass Deschampsia cespitosa
A native perennial, frequent to common in woodland glades and shady places on heavier soils and land prone to being wet in winter. Flowers June to August. Plants 10-200cm in height, forming a large and dense tussock, often in colonies. Leaves 2-5mm wide, flat or rolled, green, hairless, strongly ribbed above. Leaf sheaths rounded or slightly keeled, smooth. Ligule membranous, long, up to 15mm in length. Flower spikes tall, graceful and open, 5-50cm in length with many spikelets. Spikelets 2-6mm, 2-flowered, clustered towards the ends of thin and sinuous branchlets. Glumes about as long as the spikelet, membranous and shiny. Lemmas 3-8mm, membranous, toothed at the tip.
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Wood Small-reed Calamagrostis epigejos
A native perennial, frequent in Breckland pine plantations and increasingly appearing elsewhere as a colonist on banks and disturbed ground. Flowers June to August. Plants 60-200cm in height, forming extensive, spreading colonies. Leaf blades 4-10mm wide, hairless but rather rough, strongly grooved above, long, flat and pointed. Leaf sheaths rounded, smooth. Ligule membranous, 4-9mm, ragged. Flower spike narrow when young, becoming very open and spreading at anthesis and becoming narrow and upright again with age. Spikelets 4.2-7.5mm with a single floret. Glumes 4.2-7.5mm long, narrowly lanceolate and fine pointed. Lemmas 2.5-3mm with a 1.4-1.7mm awn and surrounded by a plume of white hairs that are longer than the lemma. Compare with other small-reeds.
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Giant Fescue Schedonorus giganteus
A native perennial, scattered through much of East Anglia on heavier soils in shady places. Flowers July to August. Plants 45-150cm in height, loosely tufted, the stems often with purple nodes. Leaf blades broad, 6-18mm wide, hairless or slightly hairy above, tapering to a fine point. Leaf sheaths rounded, not fused together around the stem and ending in two, smooth, wing-like auricles. Ligule membranous, short, to 2.5mm in length. Flower spike open and spreading at anthesis. Spikelets 8-20mm with 3-10 florets. Lemmas 6-9mm with a rough awn, 10-18mm long and often wavy. Compare with other fescues.
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Great Hairy Brome Bromopsis ramosa
A native perennial of shady places, found along woodland rides and on roadsides where they pass through wooded areas, especially on the heavier boulder clay soils. Flowers July to August. Plants 45-190cm in height, a stately plant with tall and gracefully arching spikes. Leaf blades 6-16mm wide, loosely hairy, rough. Leaf sheaths rounded and noticeably hairy, splitting on the back. Ligule membranous, 3-6mm long, rather firm and often ragged. Flower spike consisting of long, slender branches, typically arching gracefully over to one side. Spikelets pendulous, 20-40mm long with 4-11 florets, the spikelets carried at the ends of the long branches. Lemmas strongly overlapping at first, later with incurved margins, with an awn 4-8mm in length. Compare with other bromes.
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Wood Millet Milium effusum
A native perennial of mature and well-managed woodland on boulder clay and damper soils; probably also occurs where seed is put out for pheasants. Flowers May to July. Plants 50-180cm in height, forming loose tussocks. Leaves 5-15mm wide, flat, dull green, hairless. Leaf sheaths rounded, smooth. Ligule membranous, 3-10mm in length. Flower spikes tall, graceful and open, 10-40cm in length with small clusters of spikelets. Spikelets 3-4mm, one-flowered, clustered towards the ends of slightly reflexed branchlets. Glumes as long as the spikelet, greenish with pale margins. Lemmas very smooth and shiny, becoming hardened with age.
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Wood Melick Melica uniflora
A native perennial of mature and well-managed woodland on boulder clay. Flowers May to July. Plants 20-60cm in height, forming leafy patches from creeping rhizomes. Leaves 3-7mm wide, flat, bright green, downy, finely pointed at the tip. Leaf sheaths rounded, hairy. Ligule membranous, short. Flower spikes graceful and open with few branches, 6-22cm in length with few spikelets, all near the tips of the slender branches. Spikelets 4-7mm, each containing a single, fertile flower and 2-3 sterile lemmas. Glumes as long as the spikelet, typically brownish or pinkish-purple in colour. Lemmas smooth, rounded and blunt-tipped. A very distintive grass but small and easily overlooked. though often grows in great quantity in well-managed woodland.
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