Poaceae or Gramineae is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos, the grasses of natural grassland and species cultivated in lawns and pasture. The latter are commonly referred to collectively as grass.
Forage is a plant material eaten by grazing livestock. Historically, the term forage has meant only plants eaten by the animals directly as pasture, crop residue, or immature cereal crops, but it is also used more loosely to include similar plants cut for fodder and carried to the animals, especially as hay or silage.
Alopecurus pratensis, known as the meadow foxtail or the field meadow foxtail, is a perennial grass belonging to the grass family (Poaceae). It is native to Europe and Asia.
Poa pratensis, commonly known as Kentucky bluegrass, smooth meadow-grass, or common meadow-grass, is a perennial species of grass native to practically all of Europe, North Asia and the mountains of Algeria and Morocco. It is a common and incredibly popular lawn grass in North America with the species being spread over all of the cool, humid parts of the United States, despite the fact that it is not native to North America. The Spanish Empire brought the seeds of Kentucky bluegrass to the New World in mixtures with other grasses. In its native range, Poa pratensis forms a valuable pasture plant, characteristic of well-drained, fertile soil. It is also used for making lawns in parks and gardens and has established itself as a common invasive weed across cool moist temperate climates like the Pacific Northwest and the Northeastern United States. When found on native grasslands in Canada, for example, it is considered an unwelcome exotic plant, and is indicative of a disturbed and degraded landscape.
Trifolium repens, the white clover, is a herbaceous perennial plant in the bean family Fabaceae. It is native to Europe, including the British Isles, and central Asia and is one of the most widely cultivated types of clover. It has been widely introduced worldwide as a forage crop, and is now also common in most grassy areas of North America, Australia and New Zealand. The species includes varieties often classed as small, intermediate and large, according to height, which reflects petiole length. The term 'white clover' is applied to the species in general, 'Dutch clover' is often applied to intermediate varieties, and 'ladino clover' is applied to large varieties.
Lolium is a genus of tufted grasses in the bluegrass subfamily (Pooideae). It is often called ryegrass, but this term is sometimes used to refer to grasses in other genera.
Poa annua, or annual meadow grass, is a widespread low-growing turfgrass in temperate climates. Notwithstanding the reference to annual plant in its name, perennial bio-types do exist. This grass originated as a hybrid between Poa supina and Poa infirma. Major chromosomal rearrangements after polyploidy have contributed to variation in genome size in Poa annua.
Festuca pratensis, the meadow fescue, is a perennial species of grass, which is often used as an ornamental grass in gardens, and is also an important forage crop.
Cynosurus cristatus, the crested dog's-tail, is a short-lived perennial grass in the family Poaceae, characterised by a seed head that is flat on one side. It typically grows in species rich grassland. It thrives in a variety of soil types but avoids the acid and calcareous extremes of pH, and prefers well drained soils. It may be grown as an ornamental plant.
Poa trivialis, is a perennial plant regarded in the US as an ornamental plant. It is part of the grass family.
Festuca arundinacea (syn., Schedonorus arundinaceus and Lolium arundinaceum) is a species of grass commonly known as tall fescue. It is a cool-season perennial C3 species of bunchgrass native to Europe. It is an important forage grass throughout Europe, and many cultivars have been used in agriculture. It is also an ornamental grass in gardens, and a phytoremediation plant.
Lolium multiflorum is a ryegrass native to temperate Europe, though its precise native range is unknown.
Pythiumdisease, also known as "Pythiumblight," "cottony blight," or "grease spot," is a highly destructive turfgrass disease caused by several different Pythium species. All naturally cultivated cool-season turfgrasses are susceptible to Pythium and if conditions are favorable to Pythium it can destroy a whole turfgrass stand in a few days or less. Pythium favors hot and very humid weather and will usually develop in low areas or swales in the turfgrass.
Paspalum vaginatum is a species of grass known by many names, including seashore paspalum, biscuit grass, saltwater couch, silt grass, and swamp couch. It is native to the Americas, where it grows in tropical and subtropical regions. It is found throughout the other tropical areas of the world, where it is an introduced species and sometimes an invasive weed. It is also cultivated as a turfgrass in many places.
Festuca gigantea, or giant fescue, is a plant species in the grass family, Poaceae. Because this and other members of Festuca subgenus Schedonorus have more in common morphologically with members of the genus Lolium than with Festuca and often produce fertile hybrids with other Lolium species, Festuca gigantea has been recently published as Lolium giganteum(L.) Darbysh. (1993) and then as Schedonorus giganteus(L.) Holub (1998). Sources vary as to which placement is more acceptable.
Digitaria didactyla is a species of grass known by the common names blue couch, Queensland blue couch, blue serangoon grass, green serangoon grass, blue stargrass, and petit gazon. It is native to Mauritius, Réunion, parts of mainland Africa, and Madagascar. It has been introduced widely outside its native range, mainly for use as a pasture and turf grass. It has naturalized in some regions.
Lolium rigidum is a species of annual grass. Common names by which it is known include annual ryegrass, a name also given to Italian ryegrass, rigid ryegrass, stiff darnel, Swiss ryegrass and Wimmera ryegrass. It is a native of southern Europe, northern Africa, the Middle East and the Indian subcontinent and is grown as a forage crop, particularly in Australia, where it is also a serious and economically damaging crop weed.
Perennial ryegrass staggers is poisoning by peramine, lolitrem B, and other toxins that are contained in perennial ryegrass, and produced by the endophyte fungus Epichloë festucae which can be present in all parts of the grass plant, but tends to be concentrated in the lower part of the leaf sheaths, the flower stalks and seeds. This condition can affect horses, cattle, sheep, farmed deer and llamas. It regularly occurs in New Zealand and is known spasmodically from Australia, North and South America, and Europe.
The annual bluegrass weevil, scientific name Listronotus maculicollis, is a turfgrass insect pest which feeds mainly on annual bluegrass. They prefer to feed on very low mown grass, and are thus found mostly on golf courses or grass tennis courts. ABWs, as they are often referred to, were only found in the Northeastern United States until the 2000s when sightings began to expand. In recent years they have been found as far north as Ontario and Quebec, as far west as Ohio, and as far south as North Carolina. Their choice of hosts has also expanded, and they have been reported feeding on perennial ryegrass and creeping bentgrass.
Epichloë hybrida is a systemic, asexual and seed-transmissible endophyte of perennial ryegrass within the genus Epichloë. An interspecies allopolyploid of two haploid parent species Epichloë typhina and Epichloë festucae var. lolii, E. hybrida was first identified in 1989, recognized as an interspecific hybrid in 1994, but only formally named in 2017. Previously this species was often informally called Epichloë typhina x Epichloë festucae var. lolii, or referenced by the identifier of its most well-studied strain, Lp1. Epichloë hybrida is a symbiont of perennial ryegrass where its presence is almost entirely asymptomatic. The species has been commercialized for the benefits of its anti-insect compounds in a pasture setting, although it is now more commonly used as an experimental model system for studying interspecific hybridization in fungi.
