Piptochaetium avenaceum | |
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Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Monocots |
Clade: | Commelinids |
Order: | Poales |
Family: | Poaceae |
Subfamily: | Pooideae |
Genus: | Piptochaetium |
Species: | P. avenaceum |
Binomial name | |
Piptochaetium avenaceum (L.) Parodi | |
Synonyms | |
List
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Piptochaetium avenaceum, commonly called black oat grass, blackseed needle grass or blackseed speargrass, is a species of perennial bunchgrass native to eastern North America. It is a member of the grass family Poaceae.
Piptochaetium avenaceum is commonly found in the eastern United States, within various types of habitats, which include:
The species distribution is mostly found in the eastern United States. It is found in the Great Lakes region of the U.S. Midwest and Ontario, Canada, and the shortgrass prairies of the south-central U.S. as well.
The range has been documented in: Alabama; Pennsylvania; Rhode Island, New York and Florida, North and South Carolina; Georgia; Michigan; Illinois; Oklahoma, and other states adjacent to these. [1]
Piptochaetium avenaceum, Black oat grass, consists of fine leaf texture that appear to be bristle-like. Its leaves are long and elongate, reaching up to 3 feet (0.91 m) in height.
The plant is easily recognizable when flowering or fruiting. It can be identified by its open inflorescences, which are thin and usually cannot be seen from a distance. The branches within these inflorescences are very thin and thus can create effects of spikelets that appear to be floating in mid air.
It also consists of awns, which are hairlike projections containing multicellular organisms that obtain nutrients through photosynthesis. The awns can twist and un-twist in circumstances depending on the humidity and temperature of the area, which is required for them in order to thrive within soil. They also protrude from individual flowers in the flowering clusters, which tend to develop between late spring and early summer (normally April to June).
Panicles also exist within this species where it rises above the plant's rolled and thread-like leaves. It contains slender open branches, a few narrow scales and spikelets that consist of one flower. The ripened flowering heads within the spikelet remain on the grass usually until autumn, in which the awns tend to bend and twist, spreading widely from the scales.
The seeds are formed as sharp needles. The palea (bract-like organs found within species of grass) tends to be long and blackish, in which the upper part consists of bent and twisted awns.
Stipa avenacea is cultivated as an ornamental grass by plant nurseries, for traditional and native plant gardens, and natural landscaping and habitat restoration projects. Black oat grass is drought-tolerant, and used in xeriscaping (water-conserving landscape design).
The plant is hardy to USDA zone 2, a U.S. Hardiness Zone rating. It needs good drainage and full sun. The plants flower during the summer season.
The dried flower stalks can be used in floral arrangements, and created into feathery plumes in a variety of colors.
The black oat grass or blackseed speargrass plant, with the typically deep root system of a bunchgrass, is planted for erosion control—soil care. It can be planted along vulnerable areas (such as stream banks) where it can form a dense mat through water flow.
Piptochaetium avenaceum can be used as a cover crop, in which they are grown after a crop has been cut so that soil can be replenished, and is thus plowed back into the garden rather than being harvested. It is commonly said that oat grass is a good choice to use as a cover crop because when they die during the winter time, the residue will be much easier to handle when working with the soil, while preparing for planting season.
Black oat grass can also serve as a 'net' to cover other simultaneously planted seeds, and later seedlings, from bird deprivation.
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.
Andropogon gerardi, commonly known as big bluestem, is a species of tall grass native to much of the Great Plains and grassland regions of central and eastern North America. It is also known as tall bluestem, bluejoint, and turkeyfoot.
Hordeum jubatum, with common names foxtail barley, bobtail barley, squirreltail barley, and intermediate barley, is a perennial plant species in the grass family Poaceae. It occurs wild mainly in northern North America and adjacent northeastern Siberia. However, as it escaped often from gardens it can be found worldwide in areas with temperate to warm climates, and is considered a weed in many countries. The species is a polyploid and originated via hybridization of an East Asian Hordeum species with a close but extinct relative of Californian H. brachyantherum. It is grown as an ornamental plant for its attractive inflorescences and when done flowering for its infructescence.
Arrhenatherum elatius, with the common names bulbous oat grass, false oat-grass, tall oat-grass, tall meadow oat, onion couch and tuber oat-grass, is a species of perennial grass, native to Europe, western Asia, and northern Africa.
Nassella pulchra, basionym Stipa pulchra, is a species of grass known by the common names purple needlegrass and purple tussockgrass. It is native to the U.S. state of California, where it occurs throughout the coastal hills, valleys, and mountain ranges, as well as the Sacramento Valley and parts of the Sierra Nevada foothills, and Baja California.
Bromus hordeaceus, the soft brome, is an annual or biennial species of grass in the true grass family (Poaceae). It is also known in North America as bull grass, soft cheat, and soft chess.
Hesperostipa comata, commonly known as needle-and-thread grass, is a species of grass native to North America, especially the western third. It has a wide distribution spanning from northern Canada to Mexico.
Achnatherum lettermanii is a species of grass known by the common name Letterman's needlegrass. The updated and accepted name is Stipa lettermanii. It is native to the western United States from California to Montana to New Mexico, where it is a resident of several types of habitat.
Stipa parishii, formerly classified as Achnatherum parishii, is a species of grass known by the common name Parish's needlegrass. The Jepson Manual 2nd edition (2012) reclassified the plant as Stipa parishii var. parishii.
Stipa speciosa (syn. Achnatherum speciosum is a species of grass known by the common name desert needlegrass. It is native to much of the south-western United States from California to Colorado, where it grows in dry areas, especially sagebrush habitat. It is also known from Mexico and parts of South America.
Bothriochloa barbinodis is a species of grass known by the common name cane bluestem. It is native to the Americas, including most of South and Central America, Mexico, and the southernmost continental United States from California to Florida.
Calamagrostis rubescens is a species of grass known by the common name pinegrass.
Piptochaetium, or speargrass, is a genus of New World plants in the grass family, native to North and South America. Piptochaetium is a bunchgrass genus in the tribe Stipeae.
Ptilagrostis is a genus of grasses in the family Poaceae. They are distributed in Asia and North America. They are known commonly as false needlegrasses.
The Stipeae are a tribe of grasses within the subfamily Pooidae, with up to 600 described species.
Danthonia compressa is a species of grass known by the common names mountain oatgrass, flattened oatgrass, and slender oatgrass.
Hesperostipa spartea, formerly Stipa spartea, is a species of grass known by the common names porcupine grass, western porcupine grass, short-awn porcupine grass, porcupine needlegrass, and big needlegrass. It is native to North America, where it is widespread from British Columbia to Ontario in Canada and through the central and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It is a bunchgrass species in the genus Hesperostipa.
Muhlenbergia capillaris, commonly known as the hairawn muhly, is a perennial sedge-like plant that grows to be about 30–90 cm (0.98–2.95 ft) tall and 60–90 cm (2.0–3.0 ft) wide. The plant includes a double layer; green, leaf-like structures surround the understory, and purple-pink flowers outgrow them from the bottom up. The plant is a warm-season grass, meaning that leaves begin growth in the summer. During the summer, the leaves stay green, but they morph during the fall to produce a more copper color. The seasonal changes also include the flowers, as they grow out during the fall and stay healthy till the end of autumn. The muhly grows along the border of roads and on plain prairies. The grass clumps into herds, causing bush-like establishments in the area the hairawn muhly inhabits. The flowers are very feathery and add a cloudlike appearance to the top of the grass. It is native to eastern North America and can be used for a multitude of purposes, including ornamental gardening and farming. It was voted 2012 plant of the year by the Garden Club of America.
Themeda quadrivalvis is a species of grass known by the common names grader grass, habana grass, and kangaroo grass, not to be confused with Themeda triandra, which is also known as kangaroo grass. It is native to India, Nepal, and Malaysia. It can also be found in many other places as an introduced species and often a noxious weed. It occurs in the United States, New Caledonia, Fiji, Mauritius, Thailand, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, China, the Middle East and tropical America. It is a troublesome exotic weed in Australia, especially in northern regions. It is also an agricultural weed in crops such as sugar cane and lucerne.
Austrostipa mollis, also known as the soft speargrass or supple speargrass is a robust, erect tufted perennial speargrass in the Poaceae family. It is native to Australia, and found in Western Australia, South Australia, Victoria, ACT and Tasmania.
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