''Arrhenatherum elatius'', with the common names bulbous oat grass, false oat-grass, tall oat-grass, tall meadow oat, onion couch and tuber oat-grass, is a species of

perennial A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wid ...

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 a ...

, native to Europe, western Asia, and northern Africa. This

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 perenni ...

is often used 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 ...

and is sometimes marketed as " cat grass". It is native to Europe but can be found elsewhere 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 ther ...

. It is found especially in

prairie Prairies are ecosystems considered part of the temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome by ecologists, based on similar temperate climates, moderate rainfall, and a composition of grasses, herbs, and shrubs, rather than trees, as the ...

s, at the side of roads and in uncultivated fields. The bulbous subspecies can be a weed of

arable land Arable land (from the la, arabilis, "able to be ploughed") is any land capable of being ploughed and used to grow crops.''Oxford English Dictionary'', "arable, ''adj''. and ''n.''" Oxford University Press (Oxford), 2013. Alternatively, for th ...

. It is palatable grass for

livestock Livestock are the domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to provide labor and produce diversified products for consumption such as meat, eggs, milk, fur, leather, and wool. The term is sometimes used to refer solely to animal ...

and is used both as

forage Forage is a plant material (mainly plant leaves and stems) eaten by grazing livestock. Historically, the term ''forage'' has meant only plants eaten by the animals directly as pasture, crop residue, or immature cereal crops, but it is also used ...

(pasture) and fodder (

hay Hay is grass, legumes, or other herbaceous plants that have been cut and dried to be stored for use as animal fodder, either for large grazing animals raised as livestock, such as cattle, horses, goats, and sheep, or for smaller domesticat ...

and

silage Silage () is a type of fodder made from green foliage crops which have been preserved by fermentation to the point of acidification. It can be fed to cattle, sheep and other such ruminants (cud-chewing animals). The fermentation and storage ...

Description

This coarse grass can grow to tall. The leaves are bright green, broad, slightly hairy, and rough. The ligule is long and smooth edged. The panicle is up to , and the bunched

spikelet A spikelet, in botany, describes the typical arrangement of the flowers of grasses, sedges and some other Monocots. Each spikelet has one or more florets. The spikelets are further grouped into panicles or spikes. The part of the spikelet that ...

s have projecting and angled awns up to long, green or purplish. The panicles often remain into winter. The

s are oblong or gaping. It flowers from June to September. The roots are yellow.Grasses by C E Hubbard, 1978, published by Penguin books Two subspecies have been described: * ''Arrhenatherum elatius'' subsp. ''elatius'', the more common variety. * ''Arrhenatherum elatius'' subsp. ''bulbosum'' (also called ''Arrhenatherum tuberosum''), onion couch or tuber oat-grass, distinguished by the presence of corms at the base of the stem, by which it propagates. It occurs in vegetated shingle and arable land.

Habitat

''Arrhenatherum elatius'' is a principal species in two UK National Vegetation Classification habitat communities: the very widespread MG1 (''Arrhenatherum elatius'' grassland) and the much rarer MG2 (''Arrhenatherum elatius'' - ''Filipendula ulmaria'' tall-herb grassland). This means that it can be found with species such as ''

Dactylis glomerata ''Dactylis Glomerata'' is the sixth studio album by Swedish doom metal band Candlemass, released in 1998. This was their first album released since their split in 1994. The album was originally destined to be the second release by Candlemass m ...

'' (also known as cock's-foot and orchard grass), and ''

Filipendula ulmaria ''Filipendula ulmaria'', commonly known as meadowsweet or mead wort, is a perennial herbaceous plant in the family Rosaceae that grows in damp meadows. It is native throughout most of Europe and Western Asia (Near east and Middle east). It has ...

'' (also known as meadow-sweet). It is found on road verges, along hedges and riverbanks. It can colonise and stabilise limestone scree, bare calcareous cliffs, maritime shingle and coastal dunes. Image:Glanshaver bloempje Arrhenatherum elatius.jpg, gaping spikelet and awn Image:Glanshaver bloeiwijze Arrhenatherum elatius.jpg, bunched panicle Image:Arrhenaterum-elatius-flowers.JPG, spikelets Image:Glanshaver ligula Arrhenatherum elatius.jpg, ligule Image:Starr_010721-9002_Arrhenatherum_elatius.jpg, leaves Image:Poaceae spp Sturm24.jpg, illustrated features

References

External links

Jepson Manual TreatmentUSDA Plants Profile: ''Arrhenatherum elatius''
{{Taxonbar, from=Q159815 Pooideae Flora of Africa Flora of Asia Flora of Europe Plants described in 1819