Field & Yard Grasses
What are they?
Under the heading of Field and Yard Grasses, are brought together a loose bunch of species whose common link is that they are most frequently found as weeds of gardens and other urban or suburban places. Most - though not all - species are introduced aliens from Europe, though they are generally rather small species and not usually considered invasive.
Where are they found?
Generally weeds of backyards, roadsides, cultivated fields and other disturbed and waste places.
Identification
Habitat choice is the only thing that links these species and they are all rather variable, some distinctively so. Most are rather short, often annual, species. For species recognition, see the individual species comments.
Yorkshire-fog Holcus lanatus
(Velvet-grass) A widespread species, naturalized from Europe and mostly found in old fields, roadsides and other grassy places. Flowers June to August. Stem softly downy, often slightly bluish in color. Flower heads often pink-tinged. Flower spikes begin narrow, gradually opening wider to look more like a meadow-grass.
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
| |
|
|
|
Sweet Vernal-grass Anthoxanthum odoratum
Introduced from Europe. A short, tussock forming species that is abundant in all kinds of grassy places in Cape May County. Flowers April to August. An early-flowering species with olive-colored, glossy flower heads.
 |
|
 |
 |
|
| |
with ripe stamens |
with ripe stigmas |
|
Rough Dog's-tail Cynosurus echinatus
(Bristly Dogstail-grass) Introduced from Europe. Uncommon and local but occasionally found as a garden weed or weed of pavement in towns. Flowers June to July. The flower head is a tight ball of flowers which is one-sided, being rather flattened on the back.
 |
 |
|
| from front |
from side |
Common Couch Elytrigia repens
(Quackgrass) Native to Europe. A highly invasive grass of all kinds of disturbed and waste places. Potentially a serious weed problem for farmers in arable fields. Flowers May to August. Best identified locally by its series of stemless spikelets, forming a single, unbranched spike and looking like clapping hands. Many plants locally are bluish in color. Upper surface of leaves ridged, the ridges having rounded tops. Florets sometimes awned.
 |
 |
 |
 |
| |
|
|
|
 |
 |
| |
|
Hard Fescue Festuca brevipila
Native to Europe. Occasionally found in lawns, roadsides and other areas of short grass. Flowers May to July. Readily told by its tight clumps of bright, blue-green leaves which - typically for a fescue - are tightly rolled into a fine tube.
 |
 |
 |
|
| |
|
|
Sheep's Fescue Festuca ovina
Native to Europe. Occasionally found in lawns, roadsides and other areas of short grass. Flowers May to July. A very variable group of plants which may variously be split into several species by some taxonomists. A small, clump-forming species that is often included in lawn mixes where a fine turf is required.
 |
 |
 |
 |
| |
|
|
|
Red Fescue Festuca rubra
Though there are native forms of this species in the region, the vast majority of Red Fescue plants around Cape May or of European origin. Many different forms of this grass have been cultivated as lawn grasses and may be found in most open habitats, particularly roadsides and waste places. Flowers May to June. A vary variable grass, but most forms can be told by their very thin, inrolled leaves which generally grow in spreading mats rather than as tight clumps.
 |
 |
 |
| |
|
|
Tall Fescue Schedonorus arundinaceus
Native to Europe. Abundant and often dominant in any kind of grassy or waste place. Readily becomes a serious invasive problem. Flowers May to July. a variable grass, but most often seen as a tight clump of tall, bright green vegetation with broad leaves. Identification has been confused in the USA in the past as the species has been muddled - both with English and Scientific names - with the similar Meadow Fescue Schedonorus pratensis. Tall Fescue differs in having the auricles (the open ends of the ligule) fringed with a few tiny hairs, and in having four (rarely three) or more flower spikelets on the shorter of the two lowest branches of the flower spike.
 |
 |
 |
 |
| |
|
|
|
Rat's-tail Fescue Vulpia myuros
May be found in all types of rough, dry ground, especially along disturbed tracks and cultivated areas. Flowers May to July. Often found growing in large, spreading colonies and can be dominant in semi-arid places. Flower spikes narrow like those of the true fescues, but with long awns.
 |
 |
 |
|
| |
|
|
Slender Squirrel-tail Fescue Vulpia octoflora
A small, slender grass which is easily missed but can be common in any type of arid, sandy soil in fields, yards, sandy tracks and roadsides. Flowers May to June. Leaves and stems are thin and delicate, the stems having distinctly knobbly nodes.
 |
 |
 |
| |
|
|
Timothy Phleum pratense
Introduced from Europe. A popular grass as fodder for livestock and formerly sown as such, from where it has spread to suitable old fields, roadsides and other grassy places. Flowers May to August. Tall, narrow spikes of flowers are distinctive when viewed close up, as each individual spikelet has comb-like hairs.
 |
 |
 |
 |
| |
mature anthers |
|
|
Slender Foxtail Alopecurus myosuroides
Introduced from Europe. A problem weed in cereal crops in Europe so presumably introduced to North America accidentally rather than deliberately. A rare plant of open, grassy places in Cape May. Flowers June to July. Similar to Timothy in general appearance, but spikelets with silky awns and without the comb-like hairs.
 |
 |
 |
 |
| |
|
|
|
Perennial Rye-grass Lolium perenne
Native to Europe. Abundant and found throughout the county in lawns and as a weed of well-walked tracks and gravelly areas. Flowers May to August. The wiry, narrow flower spikes of this species are distinctive, as are the leaves which are highly glossy on the underside.
 |
 |
 |
 |
| |
|
|
|
Italian Rye-grass Lolium multiflorum
Native to Europe. A common grass of all kinds of grassy places in urban areas and along roadsides. Flowers May to August. The Loliums can be told from other lawn grasses by the shiny underside to their leaves. Very similar to Perennial Rye-grass but for the awned flowers.
| |
 |
 |
 |
| |
|
|
|
Cock's-foot Dactylis glomerata
(Orchardgrass) Naturalized from Europe. A common grass of old fields, hedge bottoms, gardens and waste places. Flowers May to August. Quite easy to identify once known, its tight clumps of flattened stems are distinctive.
 |
|
 |
|
| |
|
|
Silver Hair-grass Aira caryophyllea
Naturalized from Europe. A tiny grass, easily missed unless closely looked for. Can be common in dry areas of short grass, such as golf courses, roadsides and other similar places. Flowers May to July. A low-growing species which is perhaps most noticeable after flowering, when the seed heads turn a silvery color.
 |
 |
 |
 |
| |
more open |
|
multicolored |
Early Hair-grass Aira praecox
Naturalized from Europe. Generally a species of short, grassy areas such as lawns, especially on drier, sandy soils. Flowers May to July. A small, tussock-forming grass, that is easily overlooked.
 |
 |
 |
 |
| |
emerging |
|
multicolored |
Creeping Bent Agrostis stolonifera
Naturalized from Europe and now common in a variety of habitats. Some forms are widespread in wetlands, while others are used as lawn grasses and may be found widely in urban and suburban envirnments. Flowers June to September. A variable species with a number of distinct forms, but generally recognizable by its creeping stems which form semiprostrate mats, from which the flowering stems arise vertically. Young flower spikes have all the side arms pulled in against the main stem, forming a narrow spike similar to Nimble-will. When the flowers are mature, these side arms open out, then close together again when in fruit. Note that the second picture here shows a flower spike at the 'half-and-half' stage.
 |
 |
 |
 |
| |
|
|
|
Dense Dropseed Sporobolus indicus
(Smut-grass) Naturalized from Asia and apparently spreading north from tropical America. A weedy grass of open yards, road verges and waste places. Flowers July to October. An easily overlooked species, but often forms quite extensive colonies on road verges.
 |
 |
 |
 |
| |
|
often has gaps |
|
Nimble-will Muhlenbergia schreberi
A native species of loamy woodland soils and shady edges but now widely occurs as an urban weed of gardens and waste places. Flowers August to October. A low, rather straggly species with long, slender flower heads.
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
| |
|
|
|
Side-oats Grama Bouteloua curtipendula
A rare species, introduced from further West in North America. May occur as an occasional adventive on roadsides or dry, waste places. Flowers August to October. A slender species with a very distinctive flowering spike of pendulous flowers which all tend to hang to one side.
 |
 |
 |
 |
| |
|
|
silky hairs |
Manilagrass Zoysia matrella
A native of south-east Asia, this species - along with other Zoysia species - is gaining favor in mankind's inexorable efforts to beat nature into submission! These grasses have been imported and are being widely used to produce a 'lawn that doesn't need cutting', as they only grow to a few inches tall. Time alone will tell whether they will become the latest invasive alien in our natural landscapes as plants are already starting to occur in dry, waste places in urban and suburban areas. Flowers May onwards. Tiny plants, with flowerheads no more than two inches high.
| |
 |
 |
 |
| |
|
|
|
 |
| |