Plants of Cherry Creek State Park

Phalaris arundinacea, sometimes known as reed canarygrass, is a tall, perennial bunchgrass that commonly forms extensive single-species stands along the margins of lakes and streams and in wet open areas, with a wide distribution in Europe, Asia, northern Africa and North America. Other common names for the plant include gardener's-garters in English, alpiste roseau in French, rohrglanzgras in German, kusa-yoshi in Japanese, caniço-malhado in Portuguese, and hierba cinta and pasto cinto in Spanish. less ↑

Poa bulbosa is a species of grass known by the common names bulbous bluegrass or bulbous meadow-grass. It is native to Eurasia and North Africa, but it is present practically worldwide as an introduced species. It is widespread in the United States and southern Canada. It was introduced to the eastern United States around 1906 and the western US in 1915 as a contaminant in shipments of alfalfa seed. It was intentionally planted on both the... less ↑

Poa compressa (Canada bluegrass or flattened meadowgrass) is a perennial flattened meadow grass, similar to Common Meadow-grass, Poa pratensis. It is native to Europe but it can be found nearly worldwide as an introduced species. It grows in old wall tops, pavement cracks, dry stony grassland, and many types of wild habitat. It has a flattened stem, 23–30 cm tall, a close one sided panicle of grey green, with purple florets. less ↑

Poa pratensis, commonly known as Kentucky bluegrass, smooth meadow-grass, or common meadow-grass, is a perennial species of grass native to Europe, Asia, North America, and northern Africa. Poa pratensis forms a valuable pasture plant, characteristic of well-drained, fertile soil. It is also used for making lawns in parks and gardens and is common in cool moist climates like the northeastern United States. less ↑

Pascopyrum is a monotypic genus of grass containing the sole species Pascopyrum smithii, which is known by the common name western wheatgrass, though the common nickname is red-joint wheatgrass, from the red coloration of the nodes. This is a sod-forming rhizomatous perennial grass which is native and common in North America. It grows in grassland and prairie in the Great Plains, where it is sometimes the dominant grass species. It is the state grass of North... less ↑

Hordeum jubatum, with common names foxtail barley, bobtail barley squirreltail barley, and intermediate barley, is a perennial plant species in the grass family Poaceae. It occurs wild mainly in northern North America and adjacent northeastern Siberia. However, as it escaped often from gardens it can be found worldwide in areas with temperate to warm climates, and is considered a weed in many countries. The species is a polyploid and originated via hybridization of an East Asian... less ↑

Hordeum pusillum or little barley is a diploid annual grass native to the United States (except the westernmost parts), which arrived via multiple long-distance dispersals of a southern South American species of Hordeum about one million years ago. Its closest relatives are therefore not the other North American taxa like meadow barley (H. brachyantherum) or foxtail barley (squirreltail grass, H. jubatum), but rather Hordeum species of the pampas of central Argentina and Uruguay. It is less... less ↑

Blue grama grass, Bouteloua gracilis, is a long-lived, warm-season, C4 perennial grass, native to North America. It is most commonly found from Alberta, Canada, east to Manitoba and south across the Rocky Mountains, Great Plains, and U.S. Midwest states to Mexico. Blue grama accounts for most of the net primary productivity in the shortgrass prairie of the central and southern Great Plains. It is a green or greyish, low-growing, drought-tolerant grass with limited maintenance. less ↑

Typha angustifolia L., ( also lesser bulrush or narrowleaf cattail or lesser reedmace), is a perennial herbaceous plant of genus Typha. This cattail is an "obligate wetland" species that is commonly found in the northern hemisphere in brackish locations. The plant's leaves are flat, very narrow (¼"-½" wide), and 3'-6' tall when mature; 12-16 leaves arise from each vegetative shoot. At maturity, they have distinctive stalks that are about as tall as the leaves; the stalks... less ↑

Typha latifolia (bulrush, common bulrush, broadleaf cattail, common cattail, great reedmace, cooper's reed, cumbungi) is a perennial herbaceous plant in the genus Typha. It is found as a native plant species in North and South America, Europe, Eurasia, and Africa. In Canada, broadleaf cattail occurs in all provinces and the Northwest Territories, and in the United States, it is native to all states except Hawaii. It is an introduced and invasive species, and considered a noxious... less ↑

Juncus bufonius, known commonly as toad rush, is a common species of rush found worldwide. It grows in moist and muddy places and is considered a weed in many areas. This is an annual monocot that is quite variable in appearance. It is sometimes described as a complex of variants labeled with one species name. It is generally a green clumping grasslike rush with many thin stems wrapped with few threadlike leaves. The flowers are borne... less ↑

Juncus nodosus is a species of rush known by the common name knotted rush. It is native to much of North America from northern Canada to central Mexico, where it grows in wet places from freshwater to salt marsh habitat. This is a rhizomatous perennial herb producing slender, smooth stems up to about 60 centimeters tall. The inflorescence is a series of spherical clusters of flowers. Each flower has green or brown pointed segments each a... less ↑

Juncus torreyi is a species of rush known by the common name Torrey's rush. It is native to North America, where it is widespread. It can be found in many habitats across the southern half of Canada, coast to coast in the United States, and throughout northern Mexico. This is a perennial herb growing from rhizomes with associated tiny tubers. The smooth stems vary in maximum height from 30 centimeters to around a meter. The leaves... less ↑

Maianthemum stellatum (star-flowered, starry, or little false Solomon's seal, or simply false Solomon's seal; starry false lily-of-the-valley; syn. Smilacina stellata) is a species of flowering plant, native across North America generally from Alaska to California in the west and from Newfoundland to the central Appalachian Mountains in the east. An everchanging seasonal plant with little white buds in the spring, followed by delicate starry flowers, then green-and-black striped berries (see image gallery) and finally deep red... less ↑

Iris orientalis is a species in the genus Iris, it is also in the subgenus of Limniris and in Series Spuriae. It is a rhizomatous perennial plant, from Turkey and Greece, with white flowers with a yellow mark or blotch. It was also known as Iris ochroleuca for a long time. It is commonly known as yellow banded iris in the U.S. and Turkish iris in the U.K. but also has some other less common names.... less ↑