''Piptochaetium avenaceum'', commonly called black oat grass, blackseed needle grass or blackseed speargrass, is a species of perennial

bunchgrass Tussock grasses or bunch grasses are a group of grass species in the family Poaceae. They usually grow as singular plants in clumps, tufts, hummocks, or bunches, rather than forming a sod or lawn, in meadows, grasslands, and prairies. As perennia ...

native to eastern North America. It is a member of 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 ...

Distribution

''Piptochaetium avenaceum'' is commonly found in the eastern United States, within various types of

habitat In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species' habitat can be seen as the physical manifestation of its ...

s, which include: *grasslands *deciduous hardwood

hammock A hammock, from Spanish , borrowed from Taíno language, Taíno and Arawak language, Arawak , is a sling made of fabric, rope, or netting, suspended between two or more points, used for swing (seat), swinging, sleeping, or Human relaxation, res ...

s, thickets, and dry woods. *upland woodlands and forests (such as dryer oak woodlands). *savannas and clearings. *rocky slopes and outcrops. The species distribution is mostly found in the eastern United States. It is found in the

Great Lakes region The Great Lakes region of Northern America is a binational Canadian– American region centered on the Great Lakes that includes the U.S. states of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin and the Ca ...

of the U.S. Midwest and

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, Canada, and the

shortgrass prairie The shortgrass prairie is an ecosystem located in the Great Plains of North America. The two most dominant grasses in the shortgrass prairie are blue grama (''Bouteloua gracilis'') and buffalograss (''Bouteloua dactyloides''), the two less domin ...

s of the south-central U.S. as well. The range has been documented in:

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

;

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

;

Rhode Island Rhode Island ( ) is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Connecticut to its west; Massachusetts to its north and east; and the Atlantic Ocean to its south via Rhode Island Sound and Block Is ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

and

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating Direction (geometry), direction or geography. Etymology T ...

and

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

;

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

;

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

;

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

;

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

, and other states adjacent to these.USDA: Native range of ''Stipa avenacea''
. accessed 6.26.2012

Description

''Piptochaetium avenaceum'', Black oat grass, consists of fine leaf texture that appear to be bristle-like. Its leaves are long and elongate, reaching up to in height. The plant is easily recognizable when flowering or fruiting. It can be identified by its open inflorescences, which are thin and usually cannot be seen from a distance. The branches within these

inflorescence In botany, an inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a plant's Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a system of branches. An inflorescence is categorized on the basis of the arrangement of flowers on a mai ...

s are very thin and thus can create effects of spikelets that appear to be floating in mid air. It also consists of awns, which are hairlike projections containing multicellular organisms that obtain nutrients through photosynthesis. The awns can twist and un-twist in circumstances depending on the humidity and temperature of the area, which is required for them in order to thrive within soil. They also protrude from individual flowers in the flowering clusters, which tend to develop between late spring and early summer (normally April to June). Panicles also exist within this species where it rises above the plant's rolled and thread-like leaves. It contains slender open branches, a few narrow scales and spikelets that consist of one flower. The ripened flowering heads within the spikelet remain on the grass usually until autumn, in which the awns tend to bend and twist, spreading widely from the scales. The seeds are formed as sharp needles. The palea (bract-like organs found within species of grass) tends to be long and blackish, in which the upper part consists of bent and twisted awns.

Seed dispersion and burial

Uses

Cultivation

Gardens

''Stipa avenacea'' is cultivated 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 ...

plant nurseries A nursery is a place where plants are propagated and grown to a desired size. Mostly the plants concerned are for gardening, forestry, or conservation biology, rather than agriculture. They include retail nurseries, which sell to the general ...

, for traditional and

native plant In biogeography, a native species is indigenous to a given region or ecosystem if its presence in that region is the result of only local natural evolution (though often popularised as "with no human intervention") during history. The term is equi ...

gardens, and

natural landscaping Natural landscaping, also called native gardening, is the use of native plants including trees, shrubs, groundcover, and grasses which are local to the geographic area of the garden. Benefits Maintenance Natural landscaping is adapted to t ...

and

habitat restoration Ecological restoration, or ecosystem restoration, is the process of assisting the recovery of an ecosystem that has been degraded, damaged, destroyed or transformed. It is distinct from conservation in that it attempts to retroactively repair ...

projects. Black oat grass is drought-tolerant, and used in

xeriscaping Xeriscaping is the process of Garden design, landscaping, or gardening, that reduces or eliminates the need for irrigation. It is promoted in regions that do not have accessible, plentiful, or reliable supplies of fresh water and has gained acce ...

(water-conserving landscape design). The plant is hardy to

USDA The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government that aims to meet the needs of commerc ...

zone 2, a U.S.

Hardiness Zone A hardiness zone is a geographic area defined as having a certain average annual minimum temperature, a factor relevant to the survival of many plants. In some systems other statistics are included in the calculations. The original and most widely ...

rating. It needs good drainage and full sun. The plants flower during the summer season. The dried flower stalks can be used in floral arrangements, and created into feathery plumes in a variety of colors.

Erosion control

The black oat grass or blackseed speargrass plant, with the typically deep root system of a

, is planted for

erosion control Erosion control is the practice of preventing or controlling wind or water erosion in agriculture, land development, coast, coastal areas, Bank (geography), river banks and construction. Effective erosion controls handle surface runoff and are ...

—soil care. It can be planted along vulnerable areas (such as stream banks) where it can form a dense mat through water flow.

Cover crop

''Piptochaetium avenaceum'' can be used as a

cover crop In agriculture, cover crops are plants that are planted to ground cover, cover the soil rather than for the purpose of being harvested. Cover crops manage soil erosion, soil fertility, soil quality, water, weeds, Pest (organism), pests, diseases ...

, in which they are grown after a crop has been cut so that soil can be replenished, and is thus plowed back into the garden rather than being harvested. It is commonly said that oat grass is a good choice to use as a cover crop because when they die during the winter time, the residue will be much easier to handle when working with the soil, while preparing for planting season. Black oat grass can also serve as a 'net' to cover other simultaneously planted seeds, and later seedlings, from bird deprivation.

References

External links

USDA Plants Profile for ''Piptochaetium avenaceum'' (blackseed speargrass)
{{Taxonbar, from1=Q7617489, from2=Q24700637 avenacea Bunchgrasses of North America Grasses of Canada Grasses of the United States Flora of the Eastern United States Flora of Ontario Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus Flora without expected TNC conservation status