Bottlebrush grass

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Bottlebrush grass

Bottlebrush grass spikelets

Bottlebrush grass leaves

Bottlebrush grass spikelets

Bottlebrush grass

Bottlebrush grass auricles

Bottlebrush grass inflorescence

Bottlebrush grass

Bottlebrush grass inflorescence

Morphology

Culm

Erect or bent abruptly, tufted or solitary, slender, simple, hollow, smooth.

Blades

Flat, spreading, 3 to 10 inches long, .25 to .6 inch wide, tapering to both ends, rough and usually thinly-hairy above, smooth below.

Sheath

Open, not keeled, smooth to rough or hairy.

Ligule

Short, minutely-fringed membrane, truncate; auricles conspicuous to rarely absent.

Inflorescence

Spike, erect to nodding, loosely-flowered, 3 to 6 inches long including awns, terminal.

Spikelets

Very short-stalked; mostly in pairs, 1/5 to 3/5 inch long (exclusive of awns), initially ascending but horizontally spreading at maturity, 2-4-flowered; glumes usually absent but some spikelets bearing 1 or 2 short, scale-like or bristle-like glumes up to 1/5 inch long; lemmas lanceolate, 1/3 to 1/2 inch long, rigid, rounded on back, pubescent to glabrous, long-pointed, tapering into long, slender awn.

Ecology

Habitat

Moist or rocky woods.

Distribution

East 1/3 of Kansas.

Practical Information

Uses

The Iroquois boiled the leaves with reed grass roots as a medicine to soak corn seeds in prior to planting.

Additional Notes

Synonyms

Alternative scientific names that have been used for this plant.