Bulbous òat grass

 

Scientific name: Holcus lanatus L.

Family: Poaceae

 

MORPHOLOGY

 

Habit and dimensions: Perennial herbaceous plant, ranging from 40 to 80 cm tall.

 

Stem: Erect or ascending-kneeling stem, glabrous but hairy at the nodes.

 

Leaves: Linear leaves, blade measuring 8-13 mm; ligule of 1-2 mm, pubescent sheath.

 

Flowers: Wide and dense panicle, white-setose, sometimes reddish. Spikelets with 1-2 flowers, one basal muticous hermaphrodite flower and one superior aristate male flower; shortly mucronate pubescent glumes, lemma of male flower with awn hooked, not protruding from glumes. Blooms from April to July.

 

Fruits and seeds: The fruit is a caryopsis.

 

DISTRIBUTION AND HABITAT

 

Present throughout Italy in stable mesophilic and hygrophilic meadows, in herbaceous margins of forests, fallow lands, and along roadsides. From 0 to 1,500 m.

Photo: Under free license from Saxifraga and Jan van der Straaten, Hans Boll, Rutger Barendse