I know grasses are tricky but just eyeballing this one could you tell me what family maybe? I'm clueless with grasses but this one is most likely not native unless some sort of Andropogon. I am in northern VA, in Appalachians...near Mt Weather/Bear's Den if anyone is familiar with Appalachian Trail. It is flowering now and seems to be very attractive to bumblebees. It appears to be a "bunch" grass and does not seem to want to spread much...maybe non native and not in the right place. It is bluish in colour and flowers are whitish. I transplanted a bit of root to make this clump....original clump had very tightly packed roots, hard to divide. Anything that comes to mind please let me know I just don't know where to start searching to id it. Thanks!
I don’t know SC region at all - being over on the Pacific Canada side (edit - I meant NC) However I do recall an old mnemonic that our prof in beginner plant biology used to say several decades ago - « Sedges have edges, rushes are round, and grasses have joints » Indeed some student ears perked up sharply with that pun — it was good ol’ Oregon after all ! In all seriousness that mnemonic has helped me in our dry Ponderosa pine forest where various grasses (needle and thread is one) prevail I am interested that bees are looking at the flower on this grass. Fescue of some sort?
Thank-you for input but not this one...this stuff is everywhere so good guess for area but...this grass has taller stems that are very sturdy/thick (looking for correct word :), and is blue in colour AND I think the key to id here is the insects...I was watching bumblebees on it yesterday. Also I believe P. pratensis spreads fast. This species was a single clump under a tree for at least 10 yrs. Deer chewed it so it never flowered. I took a piece and now I have 2 clumps so it really isn't spreading.
Yes I use that one all the time :)! I actually split time between VA and NC that's why it says NC for my location but to further confuse you I am actually in northern VA for this grass! Most of the native "grasses" that grow here are sedges and path rushes but I'm fairly sure that the unknown is a grass as it has joints. To my untrained eye though the stalks were so thick that before I noticed the joints I was thinking rushes. It does not seem to be interested in spreading....I was hoping it would be a native because it was so attractive to pollinators...but this property is the poster child for invasives so I doubt it....I will look into fescue. Thank-you for your suggestion!
Darn it! I think you're right. The property is up the slope from a river...deer probably transported seeds....from what I've read this is not something I want? Trying to eradicate the really invasive species...this grass is not exactly invasive here but it can be on neighbouring property if there's enough water? Thank-you for the ID Ron!
Phalaris arundinacea should also spread quickly, like Calamagrostis. Phalaris arundinacea and Calamagrostis epigeios are very similar to each other.
That’s very interesting Your USDA Forest Service says we might get same grass on this side of continent too - link below For us in PacNW we are very careful about grasses drying out in July / Aug Sept and being huge interface wildfire fuel source - esp if humans use the grassy area (burning material / hot mufflers / glass bottles magnify sun / using metal blade tools and hitting a rock, etc) Perhaps that happens in your part of the States too. Phalaris arundinacea
But I think it has to be in water or very wet place to be invasive (according to some sources I found while googling). The grass in question may have come via seed transport on deer's fur from river but where it was growing can get very very dry in summer so maybe doesn't have the right conditions to spread? Where I put the root cutting is shadier and generally damp all the time and it grew beautifully and flowered. The original grass (one in drier area) rarely grows to any height and hardly ever flowers.
Thank-you for the link but I find the whole species confusing! Its native status and the part it may play in an ecosystem can range from providing food and cover for animals to reducing diversity by monopolising the water ways and it might be native but it has mixed so well with "ornamental" varieties that there are likely no completely native grasses left! We do not have quite the conditions you have in PacNW but a few summers ago there were quite a few fires burning near my home in NC due to drought. However, for us I think brush is probably a bigger problem than grasses as we are largely forested.
