Grass Family:-

Grasses" differ from Sedges in having their usually round and never 3-angled stems almost always hollow, except at the swollen leaf-junctions, and their flowers arranged in opposite rows in spikelets, each flower with 2 small bracts. Their leaves are alternate in two rows, usually long, narrow, untoothed, keeled or flat, with parellel veins and sheathing the stem, the lower sheaths usually split on the side opposite the leaf. At the leaf-junction is very often a tiny colour-less flap- or strap-like ligule, a useful diagnostic character best seen by pulling the leaf away from the stem.

The actual flowers are minute, usually with 3 stamens and 2 feathery styles, but not petals or sepals; each flower is enclosed within 2 scale-like bracts (pales) arranged one or more together in a spikelet, at the base of which are 2 more scale-like bracts (glumes). The spikelets (stalked or not) often bear bristles (awns) and are arranged in terminal flower-heads, which vary from small dense cylinders to widely branched sprays. The branched heads may look very different when their branches are spreading in flower, and when they are closed and cylindrical in bud or in fruit. The fruits, not important for identification, are small dry nutlets. " from Collins Pocket Guide to Wild Flowers by David McClintock and R.S.R. Fitter assisted by Francis Rose - ISBN 0 00 219363 9 - Eleventh Impression 1978

Grass Family plant table with its Common Name - Botanical Name. Flowering Months Range. Habitat with link to that Wild Flower Habitat Gallery:-

Common Name

Botanical Name

Flowering Months

Habitat

Procumbent Meadow-Grass

(Stiff Saltmarsh-grass, British alkaligrass)

Puccinellia rupestris

(Glyceria rupestris)

June-September

An annual or biennial herb growing on bare saline soils above the tidal limit, behind sea walls, on tracks and in grazing marshes around cattle-trodden pools and depressions, and sometimes on firm muddy shingle and in rock crevices. P. rupestris occurs rarely inland by saline springs and salt-treated roads. Lowland.

Flower

Flowers

Foliage

Form

Purple Fescue

(same as Bearded Fescue on Page 1)

Vulpia ambigua

(Vulpia ciliata ssp. ambigua, Festuca ambigua, Vulpia ciliata)

June-July

This annual occurs in disturbed sandy places. The native subsp. ambigua is found on tracks and paths through coastal dunes, and inland on sandy heaths, along roadsides and in patches of open grassland. The introduced subsp. ciliata is a rare casual from grain and wool shoddy. Lowland.

Flower

Flowers

Foliage

Form

Saltmarsh Management Manual from the Environment Agency informs you about:-

What is Saltmarsh,

 

Why manage Saltmarsh and

 

Saltmarsh Management

Purple Moor-Grass

(Blaues Pfeifengras, Moor Grass)

Molinia caerulea

(Aira caerulea, Melicia caerulea)

July-September

This deciduous perennial herb is found in a wide range of habitats, especially open heaths, moors, bogs and fens, but also in open birchwoods, mountain grassland and cliffs and stony lake margins. It is found on mildly basic to strongly acidic peats and mineral soils which are permanently or seasonally wet. 0-870 m (Meikle Kilrannoch, Angus).

Flower

Flowers

Foliage

Form

Quaking Grass

(Common Quaking Grass, Doddering Dillies, Middleres Zittergras)

Briza media

June-August

A shortly rhizomatous perennial grass, most frequently found in unimproved, species-rich, well-grazed grassland on infertile, calcareous soils and favouring well-drained slopes. However, it also occurs in old meadows and pastures on neutral and sometimes acidic soils, in the drier parts of fens, and occasionally in soligenous mires. 0-720 m (Knock Fell, Westmorland).

Flower

Flowers

Flower buds from Walderslade on 1 June

Form from Walderslade in Kent on 1 June

Edible Plants Club website

"has been created largely from the point of view of a plantsman interested in the many different resources available in the plant world, especially edible and medicinal plants.

What started me off on this path was reading Robert Harts book Forest Gardening and then Ken Fearns Plants for a Future and also Richard Mabeys 'Food For Free' along the way. This also led to me to change my career and become a gardener."

Ratstail Fescue

(Annual Fescue, Foxtail Fescue, Mauseschwanz-Federschwingel)

Vulpia myuros

(Festuca megalura, Vulpia megalura, Vulpia myuros var. hirsuta)

June-July

An annual growing by railways, on walls and waysides, in pavement cracks and on waste ground in built-up areas. Occasionally found as a weed of cultivation and as an introduction from wool shoddy, grain and grass-seed mixtures. Lowland.

Flower

Flowers

Foliage

Form

Reed

(Same as Common Reed on Page 1)

Phragmites communis

(Phragmites australis)

August onwards

A rhizomatous and stoloniferous herb of swamps and fens, forming large stands in shallow water in ditches, rivers, lakes and ponds; also in brackish swamps and lagoons, and in freshwater seepages on sheltered sea-cliffs. It is frequently planted beside artificial water bodies. Generally lowland, but reaching 470 m on Brown Clee Hill (Salop). Used in the thatching industry.

Form of Saline Reedbed in Lymington. Photo by BritishFlora

Red Fescue

(Creeping Red Fescue, Rotes Schwingelgras)

Festuca rubra

May-June

These extremely variable tufted or rhizomatous perennials are found in all kinds of grassy habitats, including lowland meadows and pastures, saltmarshes, sea-cliffs, sand dunes, hill grasslands, mountain slopes and rock ledges.

Flower

Flowers from Cuxton in Kent on 7 June

Foliage

Form on 21 June

Reed Sweet-Grass

(Same as Great Water Grass on Page 2)

Glyceria maxima

(Glyceria aquatica, Poa aquatica)

June-August

A rhizomatous perennial herb growing in ditches, canals, lakes and ponds, either rooted on the bank or in the water, and often forming floating rafts; also in seasonally-flooded grasslands. It was formerly cultivated as a fodder crop, and is much planted in ponds. Generally lowland, but reaching 600 m at Sprinkling Tarn (Cumberland). Forms dense beds at the margins of lakes. Noxious Weed. Seedheads eaten by ducks. Fatal to cattle and sheep.

Flower

Flowers

Foliage

Form

Reflexed Meadow-Grass

(European Alkali Grass, Gemeiner Salzschwaden, Reflexed Poa, Reflexed Salt Grass, Reflexed Saltmarsh Grass, Slender Alkali Grass, Weeping Alkali Grass)

Puccinellia distans

(Poa distans)

July-August

A perennial herb growing on barish muddy ground near the sea, along the upper edges of saltmarshes, on sea walls and amongst coastal rocks; also in saline areas inland, and as a colonist by salt-treated roads. It favours compacted, poorly-drained, heavy soils. Lowland, with a roadside record at 520 m at Holme Moss (Cheshire).

Form from Rochester in Kent. Photo by BritishFlora

Form from Rochester. Photo by BritishFlora

Rice-Grass

(Queckenreis, Rice Cut Grass, Cut Grass)

Leersia oryzoides

(Homalocenchrus oryzoides, Phalaris oryzoides)

August onwards

A rhizomatous perennial herb of nutrient-rich mud around the cattle-trampled margins of lakes and ponds, in ditches, on canal banks and riversides; also formerly in wet meadows. Lowland. It is on the UK Biodiversity Action Plan.

Flower

Flowers

Foliage

Form

Rough Bristle-Grass

(Green Bristle Grass, Gruner Borstenhirse, Hsien su, Su)

Setaria verticillata (Setaria viridis)

July-October

An annual of rubbish tips, dock quaysides, verges and waste ground; also, rarely, as a weed of arable land or garden centres. S. verticillata is a bird-seed, oil-seed, wool, cotton and esparto alien, usually occurring as a casual but sometimes persisting for a few years in S. England. Lowland.

Flower

Flowers

Foliage

Form

Rough Dogstail

Cynosurus echinatus

June-July

An annual grass naturalised on open sandy soils in the Channel Islands and the Isles of Scilly where it can sometimes be a pest in bulb fields, and in a few localities in S. England. Elsewhere, it is found as a grain and wool-shoddy casual in waste areas, tips and occasionally on arable land. Lowland.

Flower

Flowers

Foliage

Form

Rough Meadow-Grass

(Gewohnliches Rispengras, Rough Bluegrass)

Poa trivialis

June-July

A stoloniferous perennial herb of open woodland, meadows, pastures, walls, waste ground, waysides and cultivated land; it also grows in marshes and beside ponds, ditches and streams. It was formerly included in commercial grass-seed mixtures, and is still used in amenity and wild-flower grasslands. It is a common wool alien. Generally lowland, but reaching 1065 m on Carn Eige, Glen Affric (Easterness).

Flower from Eccles

Flowers from Eccles

Foliage

Form

Rush-leaved Fescue

Festuca juncifolia

(Festuca arenaria, Festuca dumetorum, Festuca rubra var. dumetorum, Festuca sabulicola)

June-July

An extensively rhizomatous perennial found on sand dunes and open sandy shingle; also, more rarely, on cliff-tops, ledges and rough ground near the sea. On sand dunes it typically occurs on semi-mobile foredunes dominated by Ammophila arenaria or Leymus arenarius. Lowland.

Flower

Flowers

Foliage

Form

Sea Meadow-Grass

(Strand-Salzschwadengras, Common Saltmarsh-grass)

Puccinellia maritima

July-August

A stoloniferous perennial herb of saltmarshes, often dominant over large areas in the lower and middle marsh, and in pans and depressions in the upper marsh; also locally on bare saline soils above the tidal limit, on sea walls and beside grazing marsh ditches. Rarely, it occurs in saline areas inland, and as a colonist by salt-treated roads. Lowland.

Flower

Flowers

Foliage

Form

Sheep's Fescue

(Gewohnlicher Schafschwingel)

Festuca ovina

May-July

Grassland (widespread and often abundant in drier grassland, especially on chalk and limestone).This morphologically variable, densely tufted perennial herb occurs in a wide range of unproductive, usually well-drained grassy habitats, including lowland calcareous grasslands, upland heaths and moors, mountain slopes and rock ledges, and sea-cliffs. 0-1305 m (Ben Macdui, S. Aberdeen). Foodplant for the caterpillars of the Gatekeeper and Meadow Brown butterflies.

Flower

Flowers

Foliage

Form

Small Flote-Grass

(Blaugrunes Schwadengras, Small Sweet-grass)

Glyceria declinata

June-August

A perennial herb of muddy pond margins, cattle-trampled ditches and marshy fields; also in shallow water by ponds, rivers and canals. 0-500 m (Llyn Crugnant, Cards.).

Flower

Flowers

Foliage

Form

Poa Pratensis band plays songs from the traditional and modern bluegrass eras, with some songs adapted to bluegrass from other genres.

Smooth Meadow-Grass

(Capim-do-Campo, Grama de Prados, Kentucky Blue Grass, Meadow Grass, Paturin des pres, Poa Comun, Smooth Stalk Meadow Grass, Wiesen-Rispengras, Zacate Poa)

Poa pratensis

May-June

A rhizomatous perennial herb of meadows, pastures, waysides and waste places; formerly an important constituent of commercial seed mixtures, and still used in the sowing of amenity and wild-flower grasslands. It is a versatile grass, preferring well-drained, neutral soils of moderate to high fertility, and tolerant of grazing and trampling. Generally lowland, but upper altitudinal limit unknown. It is now established in temperate regions around the world.

Flower from Rochester in Kent

Flowers from Eccles

Flowers from Rochester

Form

Squirrel-Tail Fescue

(Silver Grass, Brome Fescue)

Vulpia bromoides

(Bromus dertonensis, Festuca bromoides, Festuca detonensis, Vulpia dertonensis)

May-July

An annual of open grasslands, heaths, cliff-tops and sand dunes. It also grows in artificial habitats such as quarries, wall-tops, by railways and on waste ground in built-up areas. It was a frequent introduction from wool shoddy. V. bromoides favours well-drained soils, often growing abundantly on drought-prone S.-facing banks and slopes, but appears to be indifferent to soil pH. 0-490 m (Fanna Hill, Roxburghs.).

Flower

Flowers

Foliage

Form

Sweet-Grass (Syn. Plicate Sweet-Grass)

Glyceria plicata

(Glyceria notata, Glyceria fluitans var. plicata)

June-August

A stoloniferous perennial herb of ditches, streams and muddy pond margins, occurring on more calcareous substrates than other British Glyceria species. It reproduces by seed and by detached stolons. 0-380 m (Malham Tarn, Mid-W. Yorks.).

Flower

Flowers

Foliage

Form

Tall Fescue

(Meadow Fescue, Rohr-Schwingelgras)

Festuca arundinacea

(Schedonorus arundinacea, Festuca elatior)

June-August

A robust perennial of scrub and woodland margins, hedgerows, pastures and meadows, river gravel, roadsides, railway banks and waste ground, on neutral or basic soils. It is also found along the banks of tidal rivers in places liable to inundation by brackish or sea water, and on slumping sea-cliffs. 0-430 m (N. of Alston, Cumberland).

Flower

Flowers

Foliage

Form

Upright Brome

(Aufrechte Trespe, Erect Brome)

Bromus erectus

(Bromopsis erecta, Bromus erectus var. hackelii, Bromus hackelii, Bromus longiflorus, Zerna erecta)

May-July

A tufted winter-green perennial herb of dry, relatively infertile calcareous soils, growing in ungrazed or undergrazed chalk and limestone grasslands, where it often forms dense stands with Brachypodium pinnatum. It also occurs on calcareous sand dunes, roadside banks, quarry spoil and occasionally waste ground, but avoids wet or arable sites. It spreads by seed. Lowland.

Flower

Flowers

Foliage

Form

Vivaparous Fescue

(Vivaporous Sheep's-fescue)

Festuca vivipara

(Festuca ovina var. vivipara)

June-August

A tufted perennial herb of upland heathy pastures, open Betula and Quercus woodland, rock ledges and crevices, and a wide range of mountain slope and plateau communities including areas of late snow-lie; also found in the drier parts of bogs and on stream banks. It grows on both basic and acidic substrates. From sea level in W. Scotland and Ireland, to 1215 m on Ben Macdui (S. Aberdeen).

Flower

Flowers

Foliage

Form

Water Whorl-Grass

(Quellgras, Water Whirlgrass, Whorl-grass)

Catabrosa aquatica

June-August

A stoloniferous herb of muddy pond margins, cattle-poached ditches, canals and sluggish streams; also, as var. uniflora, on wet open sand by the sea. Almost entirely lowland, but recorded in flushes at 710 m on Little Fell (Westmorland).

Flower

Flowers

Foliage

Form

Wavy Meadow-Grass

(Autumn Bluegrass)

Poa flexuosa

(Poa autumnalis)

June-August

A tufted perennial herb of acidic rock ledges, screes and stony mountain plateaux. From 760 m to 1100 m (Ben Nevis, Westerness).

Flower

Flowers

Foliage

Form

Wood Fescue

(Wald-Schwingelgras)

Festuca altissima

June-July

A long-lived perennial herb of moist, wooded valleys, on rocky slopes, deciduous wood margins and streamsides, especially on seepage lines or by waterfalls. It grows on soils of a moderate base status, often with Luzula sylvatica. 0-330 m (Haweswater, Westmorland).

Flower

Flowers

Foliage

Form

Wood Meadow-Grass

(Wood Bluegrass)

Poa nemoralis

June onwards

A tufted perennial herb of woodland rides and glades, hedgerows and other shaded places; also locally on walls, and in the mountains on dry rock ledges. It was occasionally sown in woodlands and parks for its ornamental value, while in some areas it may have been introduced with wool shoddy, grass-seed or soil. Generally lowland, but reaching 915 m (Sgurr na Lappaich, Glen Farrar, Easterness).

Flower

Flowers

Foliage

Form

Wood Melick

(Einblutiges Perlgras)

Melica uniflora

April-July

A rhizomatous perennial grass of woodland rides and margins, of shady hedge banks and rock ledges, mainly on free-draining, base-rich soils. It often grows in localised patches, suggesting that regeneration is mainly by rhizomatous spread. 0-395 m (Ysbyty Ifan, Denbs.), and up to 485 m in the Scottish Highlands.

Flower

Flowers

Foliage

Form