10 NZ Grass

plant ID

Ribbed upper surface leaf blade.

Shiny lower surface leaf blade.

Tillers are hairless.

Emerging leaf folded.

3 leaves per tiller, 4th one dying.

Red colour at base.

Short, inconspicuous, claw-like auricles.

Seed head contains flattened spiklets up stem.

Family: Poaceae

Perennial Rye Grass (Lolium perenne)

Leaf: ribbed upper, and shiny lower surface; 3 live leaves/tillers; Red at colouring at tiller base.

Emerging leaf rolled.

less tillering.

long and clasping auricles.

Slightly lighter, and slightly more yellow in colour, than PRG.

Seed head has long fine awns.

family: Poaceae

Italian Ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum)

Usually 4 live leaves/tillers.

Ribs on upper surface of leaf coarser than ryegrass.

lower leaf surface has a glossy sheen but less shiny than ryegrass.

fine sillica teeth on leaf margin.

hairless apart from tiny stiff hairs on margin of clasping auricles and leaf blade bases.

seed head vert tall, branched panicle compared to ryegrass spike.

family: Poaceae

Tall Fescue (Lolium Arundinaceum)

a densely tufted hairless perennial grass.

usually 5 leaves/tillers, often with 2 growing together.

tillers strongly flattened.

leaves dull, greyish and bluish green, without ribs on upper surface, silica teeth on margin, but less noticeable than tall fescue.

conspicuous whitish-transparent “Sydney opera house shaped ligule”

Seed head a panicle, with spikelets arranged on one side in dense, spike-like clusters at the tips of branches.

family: Poaceae

Cocksfoot (Dactylis Glomerata)

large-tillered grass.

flat leaves 15-40cm long and 8-15mm wide, with a finely pointed tip.

Pseudostem is usually covered in dense, fine, soft hairs.

pseudostem veins a little darker on a light-green background.

membranous white ligule, 3-5mm and tapering towards a toothed tip.

silica teeth on leaf margins and veins on the lower leaf surface.

The seed head is an open panicle, with several quite large seeds per spikelet, strongly folded or ‘keeled’

family: Poaceae

Prairie Grass (Bromus Catharticus)

Tall, Robust, Erect perennial.

Tiller is quite flattened.

plants easily recognised in lawns, especially in dry summer conditions, it stays green while other C3 grasses turn brown.

Broad, distinctive leaf, 12.5-18.5 cm long. often with crinkled and/or red-purple margins.

sparse, long hairs on sheath, especially just below ligule.

conspicuous membranous ligule 3-5mm long. white to purple to brown to shrivelled on older blades.

Prominent tufts of long hairs are present on collar, either side of ligule.

short strong rhizomes.

C4 perennial grass.

family: Poaceae

Paspalum (paspalum Dilatatum)

family: Poaceae

low-growing or scrambling grass.

Forms a thick, dense, frost-sensitive sward and is known for growing up and over fences and choking young trees.

sparsely hairy, yellowish-green leaf.

ligule a firinge of hairs 1-2mm.

tough horizontal creeping stems(stolons).

often form a turf mat.

small, separate male, (up to 50mm long) and female flower heads hidden inside leaf sheath.

widespread uptake by farmers in Northland.

A C4 perennial grass has superior growth in dry summer conditions, but inferior winter growth. inferior nutritional value.

Kikuyu (Cenchrus clandestinus)

family: Poaceae

Small-tillered tufted grass with hairless, bluish-green leaves.

leaves about 70mm long.

Leaves with faint, but discernible ribs.

have noticed up to 5 green leaves per tiller on some specimens.

Blunt, very small membranous ligule 0.6-2mm.

often have stolons and/or rhizomes, but not always.

inflorescence is a distinctive, highly branched panicle, very slender and quite delicate, brownish in colour.

Each spikelet has a single floret and thus one seed.

common lawn or turf grass.

Brown Top (Agrostis Capillaris)

Leaf is faintly ribbed, broad at base but comparatively short and tapering to a blunt point.

emerging leaf rolled.

family: Poaceae

sparse short hairs over the plant.

Auricles are a small tuft of short hairs(2-3mm) at each end of the ligule.

very short membranous ligule, often with a trace of dark purple colour.

native to acidic grasslands.

a low-fertility tolerant grass.

most abundant in dry climates.

Sweet Vernal (Anthoxanthum Odoratum)

A softly hairy (velvety) greyish-green perennial grass.

family: Poaceae

Leaves broad, covered in short, dense hairs.

leaf sheaths/pseudostems usually with prominent, red-purple-coloured veins.

prominent lugule, 1-3 mm long, with small, sharp teeth, very short hairs forming on the fringe.

distinctive seed head - a dense to fairly lax, erect, or nodding panicle that can be whitish, pale green, pinkish, or even purple in colour. 4-18cm long but relatively narrow, 1.5-7cm wide.

fine hooked awns (2mm)

Yorkshire Fog (Holcus Lanatus)