A common grass in disturbed areas
Beaked Panic Grass, Coleataenia anceps, is warm-season grass native to Illinois. It grows in disturbed habitats with moist soil.
This grass usually grows between 2 and 4 feet tall. Its leaves are keeled, which means it looks like the leaf blade and leaf sheath were folded in half and retain that crease. There are hairs along the edges of the leaf sheaths. The ligule, found where the leaf blade wraps around the stem to form the sheath, is short and membranous.
This grass produces a panicle inflorescence with oval-shaped spikelets. The spikelets have pointed tips and are arranged along branches. If you catch it in bloom you can see purple anthers pushed out of the spikelets.
Need a refresher on grass identification terms, like ligule and spikelet? Check out this blog post!
Beaked Panic Grass, Coleataenia anceps, is a native warm season grass. It is mostly found in southern Illinois in disturbed, moist habitats. It grows between two and four feet tall and its leaves are keeled, which means it looks like the leaf blade and the...