# Help me identify this grass / grasslike plant **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 31, 2014, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-this-grass-grasslike-plant/697039 "2014-08-31T12:13:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2014, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-this-grass-grasslike-plant/697039/1 "2014-08-31T12:13:27Z")
At the margins of a maize field near where I live, there are numerous clumps of [this](https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=B021FB3140391EBE!1790&authkey=!AK7pEiib--Fzn0I&v=3&ithint=photo%2cJPG) grass-like plant. The unripe seed heads look like [this](https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=B021FB3140391EBE!1789&authkey=!AKm0d5fXBkQQfKk&v=3&ithint=photo%2cJPG) They ripen somewhat unevenly, with the dark seeds being expelled a few at a time like [this](https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=B021FB3140391EBE!1794&authkey=!AHZDK_m8E3ZjGJM&v=3&ithint=photo%2cJPG) The stems are up to about a metre (3 feet) tall, tough and slightly ridged. There are nodes that look like [this](https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=B021FB3140391EBE!1791&authkey=!AOyVL-6EI4_a2Rs&v=3&ithint=photo%2cJPG) - the leaves look like [this](https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=B021FB3140391EBE!1792&authkey=!ALdronmRoHargLM&v=3&ithint=photo%2cJPG). The seeds (which are the thing that make me suspect this is not a true grass and is perhaps a sedge) are about 2 to 3 mmm long and look like [this](https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=B021FB3140391EBE!1793&authkey=!AOkVOdQMrOGxMsw&v=3&ithint=photo%2cJPG) - the middle one has been cut in half, revealing a white, starchy interior. This is at the damp, lower end of an arable field in southern England. ---
**Author:** ![Fleetwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fleetwood/32/271_2.png) [@Fleetwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fleetwood)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2014, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-this-grass-grasslike-plant/697039/2 "2014-08-31T15:33:48Z")
I can’t answer the question, but it is quite common in _New_ England. I remember stripping the seeds off of the heads as a kid. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2014, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-this-grass-grasslike-plant/697039/3 "2014-08-31T15:51:56Z")
I think it’s a species of [Timothy](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timothy-grass), genus _Phleum_, possibly _Phleum pratense_. It’s a true grass; most sedges have triangular stems. ---
**Author:** ![SeldomSeen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ba0ec/32.png) [@SeldomSeen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeldomSeen)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2014, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-this-grass-grasslike-plant/697039/4 "2014-08-31T16:29:58Z")
One of several varieties of [Foxtail](http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/S/W-GM-SLUT-MP.002.html) (Poaceae). At 1 m tall it’s likely Yellow Foxtail which grows somewhat taller than the others. Native to Eurasia, it’s also widespread across North America. It is a true grass, not a sedge. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2014, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-this-grass-grasslike-plant/697039/5 "2014-08-31T17:05:55Z")
> [@SeldomSeen](#): > > One of several varieties of [Foxtail](http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/S/W-GM-SLUT-MP.002.html) (Poaceae). At 1 m tall it’s likely Yellow Foxtail which grows somewhat taller than the others. Native to Eurasia, it’s also widespread across North America. It is a true grass, not a sedge. It’s not Yellow Foxtail (_Setaria lutescens_ or _S. glauca_.) That species has [flattened stems](http://extension.psu.edu/pests/weeds/weed-id/yellow-foxtail), while the plant in the photos has rounded ones. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2014, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-this-grass-grasslike-plant/697039/6 "2014-08-31T18:33:47Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > I think it’s a species of [Timothy](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timothy-grass), genus _Phleum_, possibly _Phleum pratense_. It’s a true grass; most sedges have triangular stems. I initially took it for that, but the seeds of Timothy grasses are very small - this one has seeds about the size of millet. ---
**Author:** ![SeldomSeen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ba0ec/32.png) [@SeldomSeen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeldomSeen)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2014, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-this-grass-grasslike-plant/697039/7 "2014-08-31T19:24:02Z")
Looking more closely at the seed head, I’d go with [Bristly Foxtai](http://www.invasiveplantatlas.org/subject.html?sub=6409) (Setaria verticillata) or something mighty close to it. I’m working from a knowledge of North American weeds, English varieties or sub-species might be somewhat different. Did you notice whether the seedheads would stick to clothing? If they did it’s almost certainly Bristly foxtail… the others, AFAIK have smooth beards. ---
**Author:** ![SeldomSeen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ba0ec/32.png) [@SeldomSeen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeldomSeen)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2014, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-this-grass-grasslike-plant/697039/8 "2014-08-31T19:28:57Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > The seeds (which are the thing that make me suspect this is not a true grass and is perhaps a sedge) are about 2 to 3 mmm long and look like [this](https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=B021FB3140391EBE!1793&authkey=!AOkVOdQMrOGxMsw&v=3&ithint=photo%2cJPG) Missed the edit window; Foxtail is a type of millet, which is consistent with the pictures. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2014, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-this-grass-grasslike-plant/697039/9 "2014-08-31T20:52:23Z")
> [@SeldomSeen](#): > > Looking more closely at the seed head, I’d go with [Bristly Foxtai](http://www.invasiveplantatlas.org/subject.html?sub=6409) (Setaria verticillata) or something mighty close to it. I’m working from a knowledge of North American weeds, English varieties or sub-species might be somewhat different. Did you notice whether the seedheads would stick to clothing? If they did it’s almost certainly Bristly foxtail… the others, AFAIK have smooth beards. These were sort of softly fluffy - not bristly or grippy. I did manage to acquire one of the feathery bristles as a splinter, but I think that was just bad luck of the same kind as when a pet hair works its way into a skin pore. Pretty sure this plant is some species of Setaria. It may not be wild or native - could be a remnant of a previous fodder crop - the maize in these fields is always cut for silage - there are other robust, abundantly-seedy grasses in amongst and around the margins - might even have been planted as some sort of mixture. ---
**Author:** ![Gymnopithys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/fbc32d/32.png) [@Gymnopithys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gymnopithys)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2014, 9:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-this-grass-grasslike-plant/697039/10 "2014-09-01T09:52:45Z")
> [@SeldomSeen](#): > > Looking more closely at the seed head, I’d go with [Bristly Foxtai](http://www.invasiveplantatlas.org/subject.html?sub=6409) (Setaria verticillata) or something mighty close to it. I’m working from a knowledge of North American weeds, English varieties or sub-species might be somewhat different. Did you notice whether the seedheads would stick to clothing? If they did it’s almost certainly Bristly foxtail… the others, AFAIK have smooth beards. To me it looks more like\* Setaria viridis\*, the non-sticking green bristle grass (or foxtail). My garden is invaded with the darned sticking kind, some of which I weeded this morning. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2014, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-this-grass-grasslike-plant/697039/11 "2014-09-01T12:22:55Z")
> [@Gymnopithys](#): > > To me it looks more like\* Setaria viridis\*, the non-sticking green bristle grass (or foxtail). It does look a lot like that, but I think the seeds of S viridis are buff in colour - these are dark greyish brown - nearly black.