Showing 19–20 of 20 results

Filtered (20)
Reed canary-grass is a very widespread species (the native range is circumboreal in the Northern Hemisphere) that is listed as "vulnerable" in Illinois. It is a wetland grass that reaches heights of 3-5 feet; plants tend to be widely spaced on Jackson Park although they are known to produce clonal colonies elsewhere. The leaves are flat, alternate, and evenly spaced along the culm. The leaf blades reach up to 12 long and 3/4" across; they are green or blue-gray and hairless with continuous (but rough-textured) margins. The leaf base is much wider than the culm (stem) which it clasps tightly; the leaf sheaths look like an extension of the leaf in both color and appearance. When reproductive (early-midsummer), the culms produce a narrowly-pyramidal panicle up to 10" long and 2-3" across of spikelets that bear the florets. Spikelets are initially green but fade over time to a light tan color. The stem and leaves all turn a diagnostic light tan during the late fall and winter; the leaves mostly remain attached.

Phalaris

Phalaris arundinacea

reed canary-grass [Blooms: May-?]

At the tip of the culm, dark green bulrush produces an inflorescence comprised of one to three (rarely four or five) compound umbels of spikelets; beneath the inflorescence are 3+ leafy bracts (similar to the leaves) that are up to 1' long and 1/2" wide. At least one of the bracts is always longer than the inflorescence. The umbels generate 1/4-4" long, straight branches in all directions that terminate in umbelletes of 5-20 spikelets that rest on slender, leafy bractlets; the spikelets may be sessile or may rest on 1/2" long branchlets. The branches and branchlets are green, straight, and stiff. Spikelets are less than 1/4" long (3-6 mm), ovoid or egg-shaped, yellowish green initially but darkening to brown or black later; the spikelets are an assemblage of numerous spirally arranged, overlapping scales and their florets. The florets each have a single subtending scale, three stamens, and an ovary with a tripartite style; they are wind pollinated. Bulblets may form on one or more branches and sprout late in the season. The umbels may be visually dense and complex and take some study to sort out.

Scirpus

Scirpus atrovirens

dark green bulrush [Blooms: May-Jul]