Kansas Wildflowers and Grasses

STINK GRASS

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Eragrostis cilianensis ( ) Vign. ex Janchen

Konza Prairie, Riley County, Kansas

Annual

Height: 4-20 inches

Family: Poaceae - Grass Family

Flowering Period: July, August, September

Also Called:

Stinking lovegrass.

Culms:

Ascending, often sharply bent below, much-branched at base, hollow, glabrous, ring of glands below nodes.

Blades:

Flat to somewhat inward rolled, 2-10 inches long, less than 1/4 inch wide, light green to grayish green, glabrous below, rough above, wart-like glands on margins and often midribs.

Sheaths:

Shorter than internodes, glabrous, collar often with hairs.

Ligules:

Fringes of short hairs.

Inflorescences:

Panicles, dense, erect, 2-6 inches long, .5 to 3.5 inch wide, gray-green to tan; branches ascending, bearing spikelets nearly to bases.

Spikelets:

Numerous, oblong, .25 to .75 inch long, less than 1/6 inch wide, very flat, mostly 5-35-flowered; awns absent; glumes narrow, unequal, drop early; lemmas closely overlapping, tips rounded.

Habitat:

Waste areas, roadsides, lawns, and fields.

Distribution:

Throughout Kansas.

Origin:

Introduced from Europe.

Toxicity:

It is thought to be poisonous to livestock (particularly horses) when grazed in large quantities. Cattle avoid it.

Forage Value:

Stinkgrass is weedy and has only minimal forage value.

Comments:

Tufted. The common name alludes to the plant's unpleasant odor when stems and leaves are crushed. It tends to invade overgrazed pastures.