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Dactylis glomerata

(Cocksfoot Grass)

Interesting Facts

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Common Names

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Click on the language to view common names.

Common Names in English:

Barnyard Grass, Cocksfoot, Cocksfoot Grass, Cockspur, Orchard Grass, Orchard-Grass, Orchardgrass

Common Names in French:

Dactyle Pelotonné, Gramen Pelotonné

Common Names in German:

Knaulgras

Common Names in Italian:

Erba Mazzolina, Mazzolina

Common Names in Portuguese:

Dactilo, Panasco

Common Names in Russian:

ежа сборная, Eža Sbornaja

Common Names in Spanish:

Dactilo Aglomerado, Jopillo

Common Names in Swedish:

Hundäxing

Description

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Family Poaceae

Annual or perennial herbs, or tall woody bamboos . Flowering stems (culms ) jointed , internodes hollow or solid; branches arising singly from nodes and subtended by a leaf sheath and 2-keeled prophyll, often fascicled in bamboos. Leaves arranged alternately in 2 ranks , differentiated into sheath, blade , and an adaxial erect appendage at sheath/blade junction (ligule) ; leaf sheath surrounding and supporting culm-internode, split to base or infrequently tubular with partially or completely fused margins , modified with reduced blade in bamboos (culm sheaths) ; leaf blades divergent, usually long, narrow and flat, but varying from inrolled and filiform to ovate , veins parallel, sometimes with cross-connecting veinlets (especially in bamboos) ; ligule membranous or a line of hairs . Inflorescence terminal or axillary , an open, contracted , or spikelike panicle, or composed of lax to spikelike racemes arranged along an elongate central axis, or digitate, paired , or occasionally solitary; axillary inflorescences often many, subtended by spatheoles (specialized bladeless leaf sheaths) and gathered into a leafy compound panicle; spikelets often aggregated into complex clusters in bamboos. Spikelets composed of distichous bracts arranged along a slender axis (rachilla) ; typically 2 lowest bracts (glumes ) empty, subtending 1 to many florets ; glumes often poorly differentiated from accompanying bracts in bamboos. Florets composed of 2 opposing bracts enclosing a single small flower, outer bract (lemma) clasping the more delicate, usually 2-keeled inner bract (palea) ; base of floret often with thickened prolongation articulated with rachilla (callus) ; lemma often with apical or dorsal bristle (awn ), glumes also sometimes awned . Flowers bisexual or unisexual ; lodicules (small scales representing perianth) 2, rarely 3 or absent, 3 to many in bamboos, hyaline or fleshy ; stamens 3 rarely 1, 2, 6, or more in some bamboos, hypogynous, filaments capillary , anthers versatile; ovary 1-celled, styles (1 or) 2(rarely 3), free or united at base, topped by feathery stigmas, exserted from sides or apex of floret. Fruit normally a dry indehiscent caryopsis with thin pericarp firmly adherent to seed, pericarp rarely free, fleshy in some bamboos; embryo small or large; hilum punctate to linear .

About 700 genera and 11,000 species: widely distributed in all regions of the world.[1]

Physical Description

Species Dactylis glomerata

Perennial , coarse . Culms solitary or tufted , erect or geniculate at base , 40-140 cm tall. Leaf sheaths strongly keeled ; leaf blades flat, (6-) 10-30 cm × 4-9 mm, abaxial surface scabrid along midrib and margin ; ligule 4-8 mm. Panicle oblong to ovate in outline, 5-15 cm; branches single or rarely paired at base, (3-) 5-15 cm, horizontal or ascending , lower part naked, upper part with dense fascicles of spikelets . Spikelets oblong to wedge-shaped, 5-9 mm, florets closely overlapping, green or purplish; glumes 4-5(-6.5) mm, scabrid or ciliolate along keel, margins membranous, apex acute to acuminate; lemmas 4-7 mm, lowest subequal to spikelet, scabrid or flanks short-pilose, apex with stout awn up to 1.5 mm. Anthers ca. 2.5 mm. Fl. and fr. May-Aug. 2n = 14, 28, 42. [source]

The typical form, subsp. glomerata (2n = 28), has a relatively compact panicle, broad spikelet fascicles, and conspicuously ciliate lemma keels. Other forms, widespread in China and the Himalayas, have a looser panicle with long flexuose branches, narrower spikelet fascicles, and only minutely ciliolate lemma keels. The names subsp. sinensis, subsp. himalayensis, and the European name subsp. slovenica (Domin) Domin have been applied to these forms. A chromosome count of 2n = 14 has been recorded for subsp. himalayensis. The basis of this variation , the correct application of these names, and their relationship to similar variants from outside China are not yet understood. [source]

Habit: Graminoid

Flowers: Bloom Period: April, May, June. • Flower Color: green

Size/Age/Growth

Size: 12-18" tall.

Habitat

Mountain slopes , light forest shade, other grassy places; 1400-3600 m [2].

Typically found at an altitude of 0 to 4,653 meters (0 to 15,266 feet).[3]

Biology

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Reproduction

Duration: Perennial

Growth

Culture: Space 3-6" apart.

Soil: Minimum pH: 5.6 • Maximum pH: 7.5

Sunlight: Sun Exposure: Sun to Partial Shade.

Temperature: Cold Hardiness: 5b, 6a, 6b, 7a, 7b, 8a, 8b. (map)

Taxonomy

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Unambiguous Synonyms

  1. Bromus glomeratus (L.) Scop.
  2. D. glomerata altaica (Besser) Domin
  3. D. glomerata himalay-ensis Domin.
  4. D. glom-erata sinensis A. Camus
  5. D. glomerata var. altaica (Besser) Keng
  6. Dactylis altaica Besser
  7. Festuca glomerata (L.) All.
  8. Festuca glomerata (L.) Spreng.

Notes

Name Status: Accepted Name . Latest taxonomic scrutiny: 15-Mar-2000

Place of publication : Sp. pl. 1:71. 1753

Name verified on 07-May-1992 by ARS Systematic Botanists. Last updated: 20-Nov-2007

Similar Species

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Members of the genus Dactylis

ZipcodeZoo has pages for 120 species, subspecies, varieties, forms, and cultivars in this genus. Here are just 100 of them:

D. abbreviata · D. adscendens · D. altaica · D. aschersoniana · D. atlantica · D. bombycina · D. brevifolia · D. caespitosa · D. calycina · D. canariensis · D. capitata · D. capitellata · D. caudata · D. ciliaris · D. ciliata · D. cristata · D. cylindracea · D. cynosuroides · D. decalcata · D. didactylis · D. disticha · D. distichophylla · D. fasciculata · D. geniculata · D. glauca · D. glaucescens · D. gloimerata · D. glomerara · D. glomerata (Cocksfoot Grass) · D. glomerata aschersoniana (Ascherson's Orchardgrass) · D. glomerata 'Aurea' · D. glomerata glomerata (Orchard Grass) · D. glomerata 'Grassly' · D. glomerata hispanica (Orchard Grass) · D. glomerata 'Latar' · D. glomerata 'Ludac' · D. glomerata 'Ludovic' · D. glomerata 'Lupre' · D. glomerata 'Luron' · D. glomerata 'Medly' · D. glomerata 'Pauite' · D. glomerata 'Pennlate' · D. glomerata 'Potomac' · D. glomerata 'Starly' · D. glomerata subsp. hylodes · D. glomerata subsp. hyrcana · D. glomerata subsp. ibizensis · D. glomerata subsp. izcoi · D. glomerata subsp. marina · D. glomerata subsp. nestorii · D. glomerata subsp. oceanica · D. glomerata 'Tekapo' · D. glomerata var. congesta · D. glomerata var. marina · D. glomerata var. variegata · D. glomerata 'Variegata' (Orchard Grass) · D. glomerata vivipara · D. glomeratus · D. glomerta · D. golmerata · D. heterophylla · D. hirta · D. hispanica · D. hispanica subsp. lusitanica · D. hispida · D. hyrcana · D. ibizensis · D. interrupta · D. juncinella · D. kirschbaumii · D. kovarovicii · D. laevis · D. lagopodioides · D. lagopoides · D. lima · D. littoralis · D. lobata · D. longifolia · D. lusitanica · D. madraspatensis · D. marina · D. maritima · D. massaviensis · D. memphitica · D. metlesicsii · D. mucronata · D. nemorosa · D. noeana · D. obtusifolia · D. ortmanniana · D. ovata · D. paispaloides · D. palaestina · D. paleacea · D. paspaloides · D. patens · D. paucinervis · D. pendula · D. pentadactylis · D. peylii

More Info

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Further Reading

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Notes

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Contributors

Data Sources

Accessed through GBIF Data Portal November 13, 2007:

Identifiers

Footnotes

  1. Shou-liang Chen, De-Zhu Li, Guanghua Zhu, Zhenlan Wu, Sheng-lian Lu, Liang Liu, Zheng-ping Wang, Bi-xing Sun, Zheng-de Zhu, Nianhe Xia, Liang-zhi Jia, Zhenhua Guo, Wenli Chen, Xiang Chen, Yang Guangyao, Sylvia M. Phillips, Chris Stapleton, Robert J. Soreng, Susan G. Aiken, Nikolai N. Tzvelev, Paul M. Peterson, Stephen A. Renvoize, Marina V. Olonova & Klaus Ammann "Poaceae". in Flora of China Vol. 22. Published by Science Press (Beijing) and Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
  2. "Dactylis glomerata". in Flora of China Vol. 22 Page 310. Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
  3. Mean = 291.340 meters (955.840 feet), Standard Deviation = 535.420 based on 3,765 observations. Altitude information for each observation from British Oceanographic Data Centre. [back]
Last Revised: 7/1/2009