GRASSES IN YOUR POCKET--tips for identifying the grasses of the Midwest

Green Needlegrass
Nassella viridula

Native. May-Jul. Rare. Dry prairies, grasslands, open woods, sandy soils. 35-120 cm, 1-4 ft high. Spikelets plumper than in Hesperostipa, base blunt, awns 19-32 mm long.

IA, (IL), MN, (WI)




Indiangrass
Sorghastrum nutans

Native. Late Jul-Oct. Common. Dry to moist prairies. 50-240 cm. 1.5-8 ft high. Flowering heads rusty red-brown; spikelets hairy, bases rounded; awns 10-22 mm long.

IA, IL, IN, MI, MN, OH, WI

From the Bur Oak Guide Grasses in Your Pocket, by Anna B. Gardner, Michael Hurst, Deborah Lewis, and Lynn G. Clark

GRASSES IN YOUR POCKET--tips for identifying the grasses around you

Having trouble identifying grasses in and around Iowa? The Bur Oak Guide Grasses in Your Pocket, by Anna B. Gardner, Michael Hurst, Deborah Lewis and Lynn G. Clark, will help you do just that.

 Beadgrass, thin paspalum
Paspalum setaceum
Native. Jul-Sep. Infrequent to more frequent south. Sand prairies. 25-110 cm, 1-4 ft high. Spikelets all on one side of branches, round in outline, one side flat, one side convex.

IA, IL, IN (MI), (MN), OH, WI

Eastern gamagrass

Tripsacum dactyloides

Native. Jun-Oct. Rare. Wetter areas, limestone outcrops. 100-200 cm, 3-7 ft high. Rhizomes short, knotty; basal part of flowering head branches beadlike.

IA, IL, (IN), (MI), (OH)