Flowering plants. Photo: JC Schou, Greece

Seed head. Photo: Luigi Rignanese, Italy

Line drawing in Hitchcock, A.S. (rev. A. Chase). 1950. Manual of the grasses of the United States.

Common Name

Annual Cat's Tail

Family

Poaceae

Notes

Introduced annual grass to 45cm tall, or sprawling. Leaves with a sheath at the base. Ligule a membrane without a fringe of hairs. Leaves flat, 2.5-15cm long, 1.5-8mm wide, hairless or hairy, with a fine point. Spikelets green becoming silvery, 3-7mm long. Seeds with 0 or 1 awn to 3mm long, in groups of 3-8. Mature seed groups cylindrical.

Description (as Lophochloa cristata) in G.M. Cunningham, WE Mulham, PL Milthorpe and J H Leigh (1981 and later printings) Plants of Western New South Wales page 115

PlantNET description with line drawing:  http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Rostraria~cristata

ausgrass2 description with line drawings and photos:   http://ausgrass2.myspecies.info/content/rostraria-cristata