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Grass Family
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Rattlesnake Grass
Briza maxima
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This grass is easy to identify, with its nodding spikelets on long, thin stalks that wave in the breeze. They're oval, papery, and have no awns.
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Spikelets start pale green and become tan with age. They're wide, fairly flat, and appear woven, with 12-20 florets. They look and shake like the tail of a rattlesnake.
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Notice the purple shoulders ( glumes) on these developing spikelets. Leaves are flat and fairly wide.
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Wild Oats
Avena fatua
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Spikelets hang down in an open, branched inflorescence. They form an upside-down V - a hallmark of the oat genus.
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Spikelets have long glumes, encompassing 2 or 3 florets and form a downward V. Notice the hairy base. Awns are over an inch long and are bent.
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Leaves wrap around the stem and then open up into a flat blade that grows to about 16" long. Ligules end in a sharp point.
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Dogtail Grass
Cynosurus echinatus
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Dense, awned spikelets are generally packed on one side of the stem in a short cluster.
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As spikelets mature, the awns point in all directions. Some spikelets have 1-5 fertile florets and others have 6-18 infertile florets.
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Leaves are prominent and rough.
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Velvet Grass
Holcus lanatus
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Soft, arching spikelet clusters are fun to see and touch in the spring.
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Spikelets emerge in striking, dense, dark purple clusters. Over time, the clusters open up and the color fades to a whitish green.
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Unfortunately, Velvet Grass dominates many damp meadows and disturbed places, choking out native species.
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Foxtail Barley
Hordeum murinum ssp. leporinum
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This common Barley has a dense spike of spikelets with long awns pointing in all directions.
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Three spikelets attach at each node on the stem. The outer spikelets are longer and are male only.
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This single-stem grass grows in large colonies, with showy spikes that turn purple with age.
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Purple Needlegrass
Stipa pulchra
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Purple Needlegrass has an open inflorescence and long awns. It has only one floret per spikelet.
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Spikelets are purplish. Awns are needle-like and about as long as your pinkie (1.5 to 4"). Awns bend twice when they're mature.
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The weight of the spikelets and the length of their awns causes the grass to bend at the top and wave in the wind.
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Ripgut
Bromus diandrus
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Ripgut develops a distinctive nodding form. Florets have very long (2") awns with barbs that won't let you rub them backwards.
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Ripgut grows vigorously throughout the rainy winter, maturing in the summer. Spikelets are narrow and long, with 5-8 overlapping florets.
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Leaf blades and sheaths are hairy and rough. Blades roll inward when dry. Like other bromes, the sheath shows a V neck at the top.
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Panic Veldtgrass
Ehrharta erecta
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Dark-green leaves are wide and grow to 6" long. Parallel veins are prominent and the margins are often wavy.
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An open inflorescence rises above the leaves, 2-8" tall.
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Many oval spikelets cling to branching stalks. The spikelets are small, less than 1/4" long.
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Italian Ryegrass
Festuca perennis
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This grass stands erect and has spikelets alternating up the stem, 2-ranked.
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Notice how each spikelet fits in an indentation in the stem. Mature anthers show here, spreading their pollen on the wind.
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Spikelets have quite a few florets. Awn length varies - long here and absent in the previous picture.
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Blue Wild Rye
Elymus glaucus ssp. glaucus
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This grass can grow to 5 feet tall and has a tight spike of spikelets at the top of the stem.
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Rye spikelets grow tight to the stem, about 1/4" apart, making a woven pattern. 2-4 straight awns come out of each spikelet.
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Leaves are fairly wide, flat, soft, and blue-green. The blade has tiny "ears" (auricles) that wrap around the stem.
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A Rush and a Sedge
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Pacific Rush
Juncus effusus ssp. pacificus
- Perennial Rush to 4 ft.
- Stem cross section is round, with 14 ridges running along the stem.
- Inflorescence branched 1-2"
- No awns
- CA Bloom Jun - Aug
- The stem stops at the flower cluster. Above it is a green bract that looks like a continuation of the stem, but has no ridges.
- CA native
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A branched cluster of flowers, about 2" tall, appears to come off the side of the stem. Like all rushes, the flowers are 6-part and tiny.
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There is no leaf blade for this plant, just brown leaf sheaths. Inside the sheath is the stem. The non-native ssp. effusus has green leaf sheaths.
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Pacific Rush does well on damp, sunny ground, such as at seeps, shores and marshes.
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Tall Flatsedge
Cyperus eragrostis
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Small spheres of spikelets perch on stiff, leaf-like bracts, giving this plant its classic Umbrella Sedge look.
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Spikelets are arranged in a double umbel at the top of the stem.
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The inner umbel is made up of many spikelets containing 2-ranked florets.
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