''Hierochloe'' is a genus of plants in the grass family known generally as sweetgrass. These are perennial

rhizomatous In botany and dendrology, a rhizome (; , ) is a modified subterranean plant stem that sends out roots and shoots from its nodes. Rhizomes are also called creeping rootstalks or just rootstalks. Rhizomes develop from axillary buds and grow ho ...

grasses found primarily in temperate and subarctic regions of

Eurasia Eurasia (, ) is the largest continental area on Earth, comprising all of Europe and Asia. Primarily in the Northern and Eastern Hemispheres, it spans from the British Isles and the Iberian Peninsula in the west to the Japanese archipelago ...

and North America, although some species extend southwards into Australia and

Latin America Latin America or * french: Amérique Latine, link=no * ht, Amerik Latin, link=no * pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived f ...

. These erect green grasses are known for their sweet scent. They bear panicle inflorescences with rounded grass grain fruits. Some authors advocate merging the two genera ''Hierochloe'' and ''

Anthoxanthum ''Anthoxanthum'' (Latinised Greek for "yellow blossom"), commonly known as hornworts, vernal grasses, or vernalgrasses, is a genus of plants in the grass family. The generic name means 'Yellow flower' in Botanical Latin, referring to the colo ...

'', though others disagree.Altervista Flora Italiana, genere ''Anthoxanthum''
/ref>Hope, Tom, & Gray, Alan, ''Grasses of the British Isles: BSBI Handbook No. 13'',

Botanical Society of the British Isles The Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland (BSBI) is a scientific society for the study of flora, plant distribution and taxonomy relating to Great Britain, Ireland, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. The society was founded as the Bo ...

, 2009, p 312. . ; Species ; formerly included numerous species now regarded as better suited to other genera: ''

Centotheca

Holcus ''Holcus'' (soft-grass or velvetgrass) is a genus of African and Eurasian plants in the oat tribe within the grass family. ''Holcus'' species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including '' Coleophora lixella'' ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q158906 Pooideae Poaceae genera