Cat's-tails, Foxtails and Short, Compact-headed Grasses

Rough Dog's-tail Annual Beard-grass Timothy Common Canary-grass



Grasses - Poaceae

These grasses tend to have their flower spikelets on short to very short branches, creating a dense and compact (or sometimes more elongate) flower spike. See also bristle-grasses.

Sweet Vernal-grass      Anthoxanthum odoratum

Native through Europe and the Mediterranean Region to western and Central Asia. Plants 10-80cm in height, variably tussocky. Leaf blades 1.5-6mm wide, relatively short but otherwise variable, especially in their hairiness. Leaf sheaths rounded and variably smooth or hairy, with a 'beard' of whiskery hairs at the apex. Ligule membranous, medium to long, rounded at the tip. Flower spike narrow but relatively short, broadest in the middle and tapering to a point, 1-10cm in length. Spikelets 6-10mm with 3 florets, the central one fertile, the other two sterile. Lemmas olive-brown with short awns. Flowers with only two anthers (most grasses have three).

Sweet vernal-grass Sweet vernal-grass Sweet vernal-grass Sweet vernal-grass
Habit
Flowering spikes
Early flower spike
Flowering spike
Sweet vernal-grass Sweet vernal-grass Sweet vernal-grass Sweet vernal-grass
Flowering spike
Leaf
Loose hairs at top
of leaf sheath
Leaf ligule


Crested Hair-grass      Koeleria macrantha

Native throughout most of the temperate Northern Hemisphere. Plants 10-60cm in height and forming tight tussocks. Leaf blades 1-2.5mm wide, variably hairy or hairless, greyish-green to green, ridged, blunt at the tip. Leaf sheaths rounded, lower sheaths hairy, uppers smooth. Ligule membranous, up to 1mm in length. Flower spike stiff and upright, spreading at anthesis, later closing up tightly. Spikelets 4-6mm with 2-3 florets. Glumes 4-5.5mm. Lemmas 3.5-5.5mm, pointed but unawned. Could be mistaken for a fescue but the leaves are rather different to those of the smaller fescues.

Crested Hair-grass Crested Hair-grass Crested Hair-grass Crested Hair-grass
Habit
Flower spikes
Flowering spike
Late flower spike
Crested Hair-grass Crested Hair-grass Crested Hair-grass Crested Hair-grass
Early spikelets
Flowering spikelets
Leaf detail
Leaf ligule


Mediterranean Hair-grass      Rostraria cristata

Native throughout the Mediterranean Region and eastwards through the Middle East to India. Plants 50-60cm in height, solitary or forming small clusters of stems. Leaf blades 3-8mm wide, loosely hairy on both sides. Leaf sheaths rounded, hairy, especially at the top. Ligule membranous, up to 2mm in length. Flower spike 5-60mm long, soft and upright. Spikelets 3-7.5mm with 3-7 florets. Lowest lemma 4-5mm, forked at the tip and with a short awn, 1-3mm long. The flower spike is superficially similar to Crested Hair-grass, but their are many differences, most notably in the hairy leaves and awned lemmas.

Mediterranean Hair-grass Mediterranean Hair-grass Mediterranean Hair-grass Mediterranean Hair-grass
Flowering spike
Flowering spike
Flowering spike
Flowering spikelets
Mediterranean Hair-grass Mediterranean Hair-grass
Leaf
Leaf ligule


Common Canary-grass      Phalaris canariensis

Probably native to the Canary Islands and Morocco but long established in disturbed habitats throughout the temperate and warm temperate parts of the world. Plants 20-120cm in height, solitary or forming small clusters of stems, often sharply bent near the base and with swollen nodes. Leaf blades 2-15mm wide, hairless. Leaf sheaths rounded. Ligule membranous, 3-8mm in length. Flower spike 2-7cm long. Spikelets 6-10mm, each consisting of two sterile florets and a single fertile floret. Glumes greatly enlarged, 6-10mm long, whitish with green stripes and entirely hiding the florets. Lemmas tiny. Glumes broadly and neatly rounded, terminating in a small spike at the tip.

Common Canary-grass Common Canary-grass Common Canary-grass Common Canary-grass
Habit
Early flower spike
Flowering spike
Spikelets
Common Canary-grass Common Canary-grass Common Canary-grass Common Canary-grass
Spikelets
Spikelet
Leaf ligule
Stem node


Lesser Canary-grass      Phalaris minor

Native throughout the Mediterranean Region, south into the Sahelian region, Arabian Peninsula and eastwards to India. Plants 20-100cm in height, solitary or forming small clusters of stems. Leaf blades 2-10mm wide, hairless. Leaf sheaths rounded to lightly keeled. Ligule membranous, 6-8mm in length. Flower spike 2-5cm long. Spikelets 4-6.5mm, each consisting of two sterile florets and a single fertile floret. Glumes greatly enlarged, 4-6.5mm long, whitish with green stripes and entirely hiding the florets. Lemmas tiny. Glumes narrower than those of Common Canary-grass, terminating in a larger spike at the tip.

Lesser Canary-grass Lesser Canary-grass Lesser Canary-grass Lesser Canary-grass
Early flower spike
Flowering spike
Flowering spike
Spikelets
Lesser Canary-grass Lesser Canary-grass Lesser Canary-grass Lesser Canary-grass
Spikelets
Leaf sheath
Leaf ligule
Leaf ligule


Awned Canary-grass      Phalaris paradoxa

Native throughout the Mediterranean Region and through the Arabian Peninsula to Pakistan. Plants 20-75cm in height, solitary or forming small clusters of stems. Leaf blades 2-6mm wide, hairless. Leaf sheaths rounded. Ligule membranous, 3-4mm in length. Flower spike 1.5-5cm long. Spikelets arranged in clusters, the lowermost in each cluster under-developed and barren, the uppermost consisting of fertile floret surrounded by a few sterile florets. Glumes narrower than those of other canary-grasses, terminating in two, diverging spikes with green margins.

Awned Canary-grass Awned Canary-grass Awned Canary-grass
Flowering spike
Flowering spikelets
Spikelets


Hare's-tail Grass      Lagurus ovatus

Native from Macaronesia eastwards through the Mediterranean Regio to the Arabian Peninsula. Plants 5-60cm in height, solitary or forming small clusters of stems. Leaf blades 2-14mm wide, velvety hairy. Leaf sheaths rounded, the uppers inflated and initially clasping the flower spike. Ligule membranous, up to 3mm in length. Flower spike 10-70mm long, remarkably soft to the touch. Spikelets 8-10mm, very narrow and each with one floret. Glumes and lemmas terminating in long, fine awns up to 18mm in length.

Hare's-tail Grass Hare's-tail Grass Hare's-tail Grass Hare's-tail Grass
Habit
Early flower spike
Early flower spike
Flowering spike
Hare's-tail Grass Hare's-tail Grass Hare's-tail Grass Hare's-tail Grass
Spikelets close-up
Stem node
Leaf
Leaf ligule


Annual Beard-grass      Polypogon monspeliensis

Native from Macaronesia and the Mediterranean Basin to western Europe, East Africa and eastern Asia. Plants 6-60cm in height, solitary or forming small clusters of stems, often sharply bent near the base. Leaf blades 2-8mm wide, hairless. Leaf sheaths rounded. Ligule membranous, 3-15mm in length, toothed. Flower spike 15-160mm long, soft to the touch. Spikelets 2-3mm, each with a single floret. Lemmas about half the length of the glumes (and thus largely hidden by them), the lemmas and glumes both usually awned. Glumes 2-3mm long, shallowly notched at the tip to about 0.2mm (about 1/10th of the length of the glume); lemmas 1-1.5mm long with awn 0.5-1.5mm long.

Annual Beard-grass Annual Beard-grass Annual Beard-grass Annual Beard-grass
Habit
Habit
Flower spikes
Flowering spike
Annual Beard-grass Annual Beard-grass Annual Beard-grass Annual Beard-grass
Flowering spikelets
Spikelet
Leaf
Leaf ligule


Southern Beard-grass      Polypogon maritimus

Native to the Mediterranean Region and eastwards to Mongolia. Very similar to Annual Beard-grass and requiring very close scrutiny to identify. Glumes 1.5-2.3mm long, more deeply notched at the tip to about 0.5mm (about 1/5th of the length of the glume); lemmas less than 1mm long and usually without an awn.

Southern Beard-grass Southern Beard-grass Southern Beard-grass Southern Beard-grass
Flower spike
Flowering spikelets
Leaf base and stem
Leaf ligule


Golden Dog's-tail      Lamarckia aurea

Native from the Canary Islands and eastward through the Mediterranean basin to Ethiopia and northern India.

Golden Dog's-tail Golden Dog's-tail Golden Dog's-tail Golden Dog's-tail
Habit
Early flower spike
Flowering spikes
Flowering spike
Golden Dog's-tail Golden Dog's-tail Golden Dog's-tail Golden Dog's-tail
Flower spike
Spikelets
Spikelets
Leaf ligule


Rough Dog's-tail      Cynosurus echinatus

Native from Macaronesia and the Mediterranean region eastwards to Iran and Turkmenistan. Annual plants, 10-100cm in height, typically solitary or in small tufts. Leaf blades 3-10mm wide, hairless but rough above, flat and long-pointed at the tip, wrapping closely around the stem at the base. Ligule membranous, up to 10mm long. Flower spike rounded, with the long-awned spikelets very tightly packed; one-sided with an obvious 'back' and 'front'. Spikelets 8-14mm, densely packed with sterile spikelets more or less concealing the fertile ones, the latter with 1-5 florets. Glumes 7-12mm long, very thin, keeled, one-veined. Lemmas 5-7mm long, awned from near the tip, the awns rough and 6-16mm long.

Rough Dog's-tail Rough Dog's-tail Rough Dog's-tail Rough Dog's-tail
Habit
Flower spike
Flower spike
Flower spike
Rough Dog's-tail Rough Dog's-tail Rough Dog's-tail Rough Dog's-tail
Flowering spikelets
Leaf
Leaves sheathing stem
Leaf ligule


Common Cock's-foot      Dactylis glomerata

Native throughout most of Eurasia and widley introduced elsewhere. Plants 15-140cm in height, typically densely tussock-forming. Leaf blades 2-14mm wide, greyish-green, coarse, folded at first but opening flat. Leaf sheaths strongly keeled (due to flattened stems), hairless but rough to the touch. Ligule membranous, medium to long. Flower spike consisting of one or two, well-spaced lower branches and a cluster of short branches at the top, the lower branches at right angles during anthesis and folding up with age. Spikelets 5-9mm with 2-5 florets, the spikelets tightly bunched in one-sided clusters. Lemmas tightly packed, elongated and sharp-pointed with a stiff awn.

Common Cock's-foot Common Cock's-foot Common Cock's-foot Common Cock's-foot
Habit
Early flower spike
Early spikelets
Flowering spikelets
Common Cock's-foot Common Cock's-foot Common Cock's-foot Common Cock's-foot
Late spikelets
Tiller stems strongly flattened
Leaf upperside
Leaf ligule


Timothy      Phleum pratense

Native throughout Europe and northern Asia but also widely introduced elsewhere. Plants 40-120cm in height, variably tussocky or forming patches. Leaf blades 3-9mm wide, hairless, rather stout. Leaf sheaths rounded and smooth. Ligule membranous, long, with a rounded tip. Flower spike 60-150mm, narrow and upright. Spikelets 4-5mm long, each with a single floret, densely packed in the spike. The paired glumes are very distinctive and hide the lemmas and florets; they bear a comb-like line of stiff hairs along their edge and terminate in a pointed spike, 1-2mm long.

Timothy Timothy Timothy Timothy
Habit
Flowering spikes
Late flower spike
Flowering spikelets
Timothy Timothy Timothy Timothy
Late spikelets
Late spikelets
Leaf upperside
Leaf ligule


     Phleum exaratum

Native from Italy and the Balkans through Turkey to Iran. A small, annual species. Glumes linear-lanceolate, conspicuously ciliate along the keel and parallel or diverging at the apex.

Phleum exaratum Phleum exaratum Phleum exaratum Phleum exaratum
Flowering spike
Spikelets
Leaf
Leaf ligule


Meadow Foxtail      Alopecurus pratensis

Native throughout temperate Eurasia and widely introduced elsewhere. Plants 30-120cm in height, variably tussocky and often forming extensive patches. Leaf blades 3-10mm wide, hairless. Leaf sheaths rounded and smooth, the uppers slightly inflated. Ligule membranous, 1-2.5mm long, rounded. Flower spike 20-130mm long, narrow and upright. Spikelets 4-6mm long, each with a single floret, densely packed in the spike. Glumes greenish-white with a narrow green stripe, joined in their lower half and hiding the lemmas and florets. Lemmas with an awn arising from the lower third of the back and exceeding the glumes by 3-5mm.

Meadow Foxtail Meadow Foxtail Meadow Foxtail Meadow Foxtail
Habit
Flowering spike
Flowering spike
Late flower spike
Meadow Foxtail Meadow Foxtail Meadow Foxtail Meadow Foxtail
Flowering spikelets
Flowering spikelets
Leaf base and sheath
Leaf ligule


Black-grass      Alopecurus myosuroides

Native from western Europe, through the Mediterranean Region to Central Asia. Plants 20-80cm in height, variably tussocky or forming patches and often bent near the base. Leaf blades 2-8mm wide, hairless but rough textured. Leaf sheaths rounded and smooth, the uppers a little inflated. Ligule membranous, 2-5mm long, with a rounded tip. Flower spike slender and upright, 2-12cm long. Spikelets 4.5-7mm long, each with a single floret, densely packed in the spike. The paired glumes more or less cover the spikelets and are joined together at the base for up to half their length. Lemmas about as long as the glumes and bearing a short awn. The flowerheads are clearly narrower and more elongate than those of other foxtails.

Black-grass Black-grass Black-grass Black-grass
Habit
Flowering spike
Late flower spike
Flowering spikelets
Black-grass Black-grass Black-grass Black-grass
Early spikelets
Late spikelets
Basal leaves
Leaf ligule