''Sclerochloa dura'' is a species of

grass Poaceae () or Gramineae () is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos and the grasses of natural grassland and species cultivated in lawns an ...

known by the common names common hardgrass and fairground grass. It is native to Eurasia, and it is known in parts of North America and Australia 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 there ...

and a common weed of disturbed, high-traffic areas such as

parking lot A parking lot (American English) or car park (British English), also known as a car lot, is a cleared area intended for parking vehicles. The term usually refers to an area dedicated only for parking, with a durable or semi-durable surface ...

s, roadsides, and

playing field Play is a range of intrinsically motivated activities done for recreational pleasure and enjoyment. Play is commonly associated with children and juvenile-level activities, but may be engaged in at any life stage, and among other higher-functio ...

s. It is a sturdy annual grass forming low, flat clumps of short stems, some prostrate and some upright. The flat, overlapping leaf blades are a few centimeters long. The

inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed o ...

is a crowded, one-sided series of flattened spikelets.

External links

Jepson Manual TreatmentUSDA Plants ProfileGrass Manual TreatmentWashington Burke Museum
Pooideae {{Pooideae-stub