Woolly cupgrass

Eriochloa villosa

This grass is a perennial or annual (depending on the climate), forming a loose tuft of leafy culms about 2-3' tall. These culms are erect or ascending; they are light green to light reddish green, terete, and glabrous; sometimes they branch from the axils of lower leaves. Along each culm, there are 3-6 alternate leaves. The leaf blades are 4-9" long and 4-15 mm. across; they are ascending to widely spreading, flat or slightly involute (folded upward along the margins), medium green, and glabrous to minutely pubescent. The blade margins are scabrous (rough-textured). The leaf sheaths are open, medium green, vertically veined, and glabrous to minutely pubescent. The ligules have short hairs (about 1 mm. in length), while the nodes are light green, slightly swollen, and glabrous. Each culm (and any lateral culms) terminates in an inflorescence consisting of a rachis with 3-10 spike-like racemes; these racemes are arranged along one side of the rachis. The rachis of this inflorescence is 3-6" long and about 1 mm. across or slightly more; it is angular and densely villous (covered with long soft hairs). Relative to this rachis, the spike-like racemes are ascending; each successive raceme becomes progressively shorter.

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