Orchard Grass

Dactylis glomerata

Summary 7

Dactylis glomerata, also known as cock's-foot or orchard grass, is a common species of grass in the genus Dactylis. It is a cool-season perennial C3 bunchgrass native throughout most of Europe, temperate Asia, and northern Africa.

Description 8

Coarsely tufted perennial; culms 15-100 (-200) cm high, erect or spreading, slender to stout, the vegetative shoots strongly compressed. Leaf-blades 10-45 cm long, 2-14 mm wide, folded at first, glabrous; sheaths strongly compressed and keeled; ligule 2-10 mm long, acute or lacerate. Panicle oblong to ovate, 2-30 cm long, the branches close together and spike-like or usually with the lower distant and bare at the base. Spikelets oblong or wedge-shaped, 5-9 mm long; glumes lanceolate to ovate, ciliate on the keel, finely pointed; lemma lanceolate to oblong in side view, 4-7 mm long, the keel ciliate or rough, tipped with a rigid awn up to 1.5 mm long.

Sources and Credits

  1. (c) Matt Lavin, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://www.flickr.com/photos/35478170@N08/3861677077
  2. (c) anonymous, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/59/DactylisGlomerata.jpg
  3. (c) Sebastian Bieber, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/45/Gewohnliches_Knauelgras_und_mehr.jpg
  4. Victor M. Vicente Selvas, no known copyright restrictions (public domain), https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/37/Dactylis_glomerata_anteres.JPG
  5. (c) Javier martin, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/27/Dactylis_glomerata_Habitus_Barquizuelas_2012-5-27_SierraMadrona.jpg
  6. (c) anonymous, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/49/Dactylis_glomerata_%282005_07_28%29.jpg
  7. (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dactylis_glomerata
  8. (c) Missouri Botanical Garden, 4344 Shaw Boulevard, St. Louis, MO, 63110 USA, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/4991912

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