''Arrhenatherum elatius'' is a species of

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek words (; 'container, vessel') and (; 'seed'), meaning that the seeds are enclosed with ...

in the grass family

Poaceae Poaceae ( ), also called Gramineae ( ), is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos, the grasses of natural grassland and species cultivate ...

, commonly known as false oat-grass,False Oat-grass
a
Plant Atlas 2020
/ref> and also bulbous oat grass (subsp. ''bulbosum''), tall oat-grass, tall meadow oat, onion couch and tuber oat-grass. It is native throughout Europe (including Iceland), and also western and southwestern Asia (south to Jordan and Iran), and northwestern Africa (Morocco to Tunisia). This tufted grass is sometimes used as an

ornamental grass Ornamental grasses are grasses grown as ornamental plants. Ornamental grasses are popular in many colder hardiness zones for their resilience to cold temperatures and aesthetic value throughout fall and winter seasons. Classifications Along ...

and is sometimes marketed as " cat grass". Outside of its native range it can be found elsewhere as an

introduced species An introduced species, alien species, exotic species, adventive species, immigrant species, foreign species, non-indigenous species, or non-native species is a species living outside its native distributional range, but which has arrived ther ...

. It is found especially in

prairie Prairies are ecosystems considered part of the temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome by ecologists, based on similar temperate climates, moderate rainfall, and a composition of grasses, herbs, and shrubs, rather than trees, as the ...

s, at the side of roads and in uncultivated fields. The bulbous subspecies can be a weed of

arable land Arable land (from the , "able to be ploughed") is any land capable of being ploughed and used to grow crops.''Oxford English Dictionary'', "arable, ''adj''. and ''n.''" Oxford University Press (Oxford), 2013. Alternatively, for the purposes of a ...

. It is palatable grass for

livestock Livestock are the Domestication, domesticated animals that are raised in an Agriculture, agricultural setting to provide labour and produce diversified products for consumption such as meat, Egg as food, eggs, milk, fur, leather, and wool. The t ...

and is used both as

forage Forage is a plant material (mainly plant leaves and stems) eaten by grazing livestock. Historically, the term ''forage'' has meant only plants eaten by the animals directly as pasture, crop residue, or immature cereal crops, but it is also used m ...

(pasture) and

fodder Fodder (), also called provender (), is any agriculture, agricultural foodstuff used specifically to feed domesticated livestock, such as cattle, domestic rabbit, rabbits, sheep, horses, chickens and pigs. "Fodder" refers particularly to food ...

(

hay Hay is grass, legumes, or other herbaceous plants that have been cut and dried to be stored for use as animal fodder, either for large grazing animals raised as livestock, such as cattle, horses, goats, and sheep, or for smaller domesticate ...

and

silage Silage is fodder made from green foliage crops which have been preserved by fermentation (food), fermentation to the point of souring. It is fed to cattle, sheep and other ruminants. The fermentation and storage process is called ''ensilage'', ' ...

Description

This coarse grass can grow to tall.Streeter D, Hart-Davies C, Hardcastle A, Cole F, Harper L. 2009. ''Collins Flower Guide''. Harper Collins The leaves are wide, bright green, broad, slightly hairy, and rough. The

ligule A ligule (from "strap", variant of ''lingula'', from ''lingua'' "tongue") is a thin outgrowth at the junction of leaf A leaf (: leaves) is a principal appendage of the plant stem, stem of a vascular plant, usually borne laterally above g ...

is long and smooth edged. The

panicle In botany, a panicle is a much-branched inflorescence. (softcover ). Some authors distinguish it from a compound spike inflorescence, by requiring that the flowers (and fruit) be pedicellate (having a single stem per flower). The branches of a p ...

is up to , and the bunched

spikelet A spikelet, in botany, describes the typical arrangement of the inflorescences of grasses, sedges and some other monocots. Each spikelet has one or more florets. The spikelets are further grouped into panicles or spikes. The part of the sp ...

s have projecting and angled awns up to long, green or purplish. The panicles often remain into winter. The

s are oblong or gaping. It flowers from June to September. The roots are yellow.Grasses by C E Hubbard, 1978, published by Penguin books Four subspecies are currently accepted by Kew's ''Plants of the World'': * ''Arrhenatherum elatius'' subsp. ''elatius'', the typical (nominate) subspecies. * ''Arrhenatherum elatius'' subsp. ''bulbosum'' ( syn. ''Arrhenatherum tuberosum''), onion couch or tuber oat-grass, distinguished by the presence of corms at the base of the stem, by which it propagates. It occurs in vegetated shingle and arable land. * ''Arrhenatherum elatius'' subsp. ''cypricola'' (

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

). * ''Arrhenatherum elatius'' subsp. ''sardoum'' (western Mediterranean region).

Habitat

''Arrhenatherum elatius'' is a principal species in two UK National Vegetation Classification habitat communities: the very widespread MG1 (''Arrhenatherum elatius'' grassland) and the much rarer MG2 (''Arrhenatherum elatius'' - ''Filipendula ulmaria'' tall-herb grassland). This means that it can be found with species such as ''

Dactylis glomerata ''Dactylis glomerata'' is a species of flowering plant in the grass family Poaceae, known as cock's-foot,Interactive Flora of NW Europ''Dactylis glomerata'' (Cock's-foot)/ref> also colloquially as orchard grass, or cat grass (due to its populari ...

'' (also known as cock's-foot and orchard grass), and ''

Filipendula ulmaria ''Filipendula ulmaria'', commonly known as meadowsweet or mead wort, is a perennial herbaceous plant in the family Rosaceae that grows in damp meadows. It is native throughout most of Europe and Western Asia (Near East and Middle East). It has ...

'' (also known as meadow-sweet). It is found on road verges, along hedges and riverbanks. It can colonise and stabilise limestone scree, bare calcareous cliffs, maritime shingle and coastal dunes. Image:Glanshaver bloempje Arrhenatherum elatius.jpg, gaping spikelet and awn Image:Glanshaver bloeiwijze Arrhenatherum elatius.jpg, bunched panicle Image:Arrhenaterum-elatius-flowers.JPG, spikelets Image:Glanshaver ligula Arrhenatherum elatius.jpg, ligule Image:Starr_010721-9002_Arrhenatherum_elatius.jpg, leaves Image:Poaceae spp Sturm24.jpg, illustrated features

References

External links

Jepson Manual TreatmentUSDA Plants Profile: ''Arrhenatherum elatius''
{{Authority control Pooideae Flora of Africa Flora of Asia Flora of Europe Plants described in 1819 Grasses of Lebanon