I'm not sure that it's possible to put a name on this grass, and more than anything, I need to know if it can be divided and moved. The tag on it, which has been lost, said it would be small. It's huge, about 4 feet across, so the tag was wrong anyway. I've got several different grasses, but I know nothing about taking care of them. This one has to get several hair cuts during the season because it's way too big for where it is planted. I've got friends who want a chunk of it, and need to know how and when to divide it. It has to go, one way or the other, but I'd rather not kill it in the process. Any help would be most appreciated!









Seeds


Top side of leaf


Underside of leaf

Possibly in the genus Calamagrostis? small reed grass

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C...

Thanks for the info. I'm pretty sure that it's not that one, because it describes perfectly another grass that I have. But, maybe it's in that family. Thanks for giving me something to go on!

Festuca californica is possible but I imagine there's several grasses which look similar. My first impression was Festuca of some sort though, and the size of this one fits.

http://www.baynatives.com/plan...

A description ..

http://plants.usda.gov/factshe...

Thanks Janet! I'm not convinced that this is the same, but it's close too. I have a lot of Blue Fescue, and it looks nothing like this big one, but they could be in the same family. I wish I could photograph it better. It's so solid toward the base that you can't stick your hand in there, and then the 3 feet or so above that is really airy looking. It's hard to get a good photo of just how pretty it is. Too bad it's so big!

Possibly a muhlenbergia?

Natalie said: It's so solid toward the base that you can't stick your hand in there, and then the 3 feet or so above that is really airy looking.

Natalie, did you read the description on the pdf?

The base is tightly clumped and the culms (stems) are tall and erect, growing to a height of 60-140 cm.

Inflorescences (flowers or panicles) are 10-30 cm long, open and sparsely branched.

There's more clues if you can measure the leaves, and feel them to see if they are "rough to the touch".

They give other grasses which are similar so you could check those out..

Key to identification: California fescue is coarser textured and usually taller than other native fescues, but might be confused with tall fescue (Schedonorus phoenix, synonym Festuca arundinacea), which is widely introduced in the region. However, compared to California fescue, the leaves of tall fescue are wider (4-10 mm vs. 2-4 mm) and have prominent or clasping auricles (lobes at the base of the leaf blades). Parish’s fescue is smaller, but otherwise very similar to California fescue.

The seeds are available ..

http://www.larnerseeds.com/_pa...

It's even available here!

http://www.greenhills-nursery....

Annie's Annuals have it listed too ..

http://www.anniesannuals.com/p...

Janet, yes I read it, but I still don't think it's mine, especially compared to the pictures. The "flowers" are the same length as the leaves, and they aren't branched like they are in all the pictures I saw. The leaves are a little rough, but so are several other grasses that I have, and they are nothing alike. It doesn't look the same to me. But, that doesn't mean that it's not in the same family. I just don't believe that it's a California Fescue. That doesn't mean that I couldn't be wrong, but for now, I don't think it is.

Sherry, thanks for the name muhlenbergia. Mine looks much more like that one than it does the California Fescue, but I'm pretty sure that one isn't it either. The muhlenbergia is really uniform in shape like mine is, but the foliage looks much finer to me.