Dactylis glomerata (
Cocksfoot or
Orchard Grass or
Cocksfoot Grass) is a common
grassPoaceae or Gramineae is a family in the Class Liliopsida of the flowering plants. Plants of this family are usually called grasses, or, to distinguish them from other graminoids, true grasses; the shrub- or tree-like plants in this family are called bamboo...
, native to
EuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus Mountains , and the Black Sea to the southeast...
,
AsiaAsia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.6% of the earth's total surface area and with approximately 4 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population.Asia is traditionally defined as part of the...
, and
North AfricaNorth Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, linked by the Sahara to Sub-Saharan Africa.Geopolitically, the UN definition of Northern Africa includes the following seven countries or territories; Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Sudan, Tunisia,Mauritania, and...
. It has been introduced into
North AmericaNorth America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and in the western hemisphere. It is bordered on the north by the Arctic Ocean, on the east by the North Atlantic Ocean, on the southeast by the Caribbean Sea, and on the west by the North Pacific...
. It is widely used for
hayHay is a generic term for grass or legumes that have been cut, dried, and stored for use as animal feed, particularly for grazing animals like cattle, horses, goats, and sheep. Hay is also fed to pets such as rabbits and guinea pigs...
and as a
forageIn agriculture, fodder or animal feed is any foodstuff that is used specifically to feed domesticated livestock such as cattle, goats, sheep, horses, chickens and pigs. Most animal feed is from plants but some is of animal origin...
grass.
It grows to 20–120 centimetres tall, with
leavesIn botany, a leaf is an above-ground plant organ specialized for photosynthesis. For this purpose, a leaf is typically flat and thin. There is continued debate about whether the flatness of leaves evolved to expose the chloroplasts to more light or to increase the absorption of carbon dioxide. In...
20-50 cm long and up to 1.5 cm broad, and a distinctive tufted triangular
flowerA flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants . The biological function of a flower is to mediate the union of male sperm with female ovum in order to produce seeds...
head 10-15 cm long. It has a characteristic flattened stem base which distinguishes it from many other grasses.
It is usually treated as the sole species in the genus
Dactylis, but is commonly divided into several regional
subspeciesSubspecies in biological classification, is 1) a taxonomic rank subordinate to species, or 2) a taxonomic unit, a taxon in that rank...
; some botanists treat some of these as distinct species, or at the lower rank of
varietyIn botanical nomenclature, variety is a taxonomic rank below that of species: As such, it gets a ternary name .A variety will have an appearance distinct from other varieties, but will hybridize freely with those other varieties...
.
- Dactylis glomerata subsp.
Dactylis glomerata (
Cocksfoot or
Orchard Grass or
Cocksfoot Grass) is a common
grassPoaceae or Gramineae is a family in the Class Liliopsida of the flowering plants. Plants of this family are usually called grasses, or, to distinguish them from other graminoids, true grasses; the shrub- or tree-like plants in this family are called bamboo...
, native to
EuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus Mountains , and the Black Sea to the southeast...
,
AsiaAsia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.6% of the earth's total surface area and with approximately 4 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population.Asia is traditionally defined as part of the...
, and
North AfricaNorth Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, linked by the Sahara to Sub-Saharan Africa.Geopolitically, the UN definition of Northern Africa includes the following seven countries or territories; Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Sudan, Tunisia,Mauritania, and...
. It has been introduced into
North AmericaNorth America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and in the western hemisphere. It is bordered on the north by the Arctic Ocean, on the east by the North Atlantic Ocean, on the southeast by the Caribbean Sea, and on the west by the North Pacific...
. It is widely used for
hayHay is a generic term for grass or legumes that have been cut, dried, and stored for use as animal feed, particularly for grazing animals like cattle, horses, goats, and sheep. Hay is also fed to pets such as rabbits and guinea pigs...
and as a
forageIn agriculture, fodder or animal feed is any foodstuff that is used specifically to feed domesticated livestock such as cattle, goats, sheep, horses, chickens and pigs. Most animal feed is from plants but some is of animal origin...
grass.
It grows to 20–120 centimetres tall, with
leavesIn botany, a leaf is an above-ground plant organ specialized for photosynthesis. For this purpose, a leaf is typically flat and thin. There is continued debate about whether the flatness of leaves evolved to expose the chloroplasts to more light or to increase the absorption of carbon dioxide. In...
20-50 cm long and up to 1.5 cm broad, and a distinctive tufted triangular
flowerA flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants . The biological function of a flower is to mediate the union of male sperm with female ovum in order to produce seeds...
head 10-15 cm long. It has a characteristic flattened stem base which distinguishes it from many other grasses.
It is usually treated as the sole species in the genus
Dactylis, but is commonly divided into several regional
subspeciesSubspecies in biological classification, is 1) a taxonomic rank subordinate to species, or 2) a taxonomic unit, a taxon in that rank...
; some botanists treat some of these as distinct species, or at the lower rank of
varietyIn botanical nomenclature, variety is a taxonomic rank below that of species: As such, it gets a ternary name .A variety will have an appearance distinct from other varieties, but will hybridize freely with those other varieties...
.
Subspecies
- Dactylis glomerata subsp. glomerata
- Dactylis glomerata subsp. himalayensis
- Dactylis glomerata subsp. hispanica (syn. D. hispanica) (Spanish cocksfoot)
- Dactylis glomerata subsp. ibizensis
- Dactylis glomerata subsp. judaica
- Dactylis glomerata subsp. juncinella
- Dactylis glomerata subsp. lobata (syn. D. aschersoniana)
- Dactylis glomerata subsp. lusitanica
- Dactylis glomerata subsp. marina (syn. D. marina)
- Dactylis glomerata subsp. santai
- Dactylis glomerata subsp. smithii
- Dactylis glomerata subsp. woronowii (syn. D. woronowii)
Cultivation and uses
It is used as a hay grass and for pastures because of its high yields and sugar content, sweeter than most other temperate grasses. It is also extensively
naturalisedIn biology, naturalisation is the process when foreign or cultivated plants or animals have spread into the wild, where they multiply by natural regeneration....
in the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and
AustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the continental mainland , the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans...
; in some areas, it has become an
invasive species'Invasive species' is a phrase with several definitions. The first definition expresses the phrase in terms of non-indigenous species that adversely affect the habitats they invade economically, environmentally or ecologically...
. In the United States, it is commonly called "Orchard Grass", because it tolerates moderate shade.
It is sold in small containers at a height to about 10-15 cm labelled as "Cat Grass". Many
domestic catsThe cat , also known as the domestic cat or housecat to distinguish it from other felines and felids, is a small carnivorous mammal that is valued by humans for its companionship and its ability to hunt vermin and household pests...
, particularly those who live entirely indoors, enjoy eating a small quantity of the grass every day. Cats may pluck the grass from the container themselves or, in some cases, accept cut blades of grass from their owners. A cat will typically consume about five to ten blades of the grass daily.
Cat grass is claimed to supplement the animal's diet with vitamins and minerals. It may also reduce the incidence of problems with
hairballA hairball is a small collection of hair or fur formed in the stomach of animals that is occasionally vomited up when it becomes too big. Hairballs are primarily a tight elongated cylinder of packed fur, but may include bits of other elements such as swallowed food...
s by binding with loose hair in the stomach and causing the cat to expel the accumulated hair by vomiting. The grass is most enjoyed when it is in its early stages of growth. Once the blades of grass mature and become firmer, cats may lose interest in eating it.
Butterfly foodplant
Butterflies whose
caterpillarCaterpillars are the larval form of a member of the order Lepidoptera . They are mostly phytophagous in food habit, with some species being entomophagous. Caterpillars are voracious feeders and many of them are considered pests in agriculture...
s feed on
D. glomerata include:
- Essex Skipper
The Essex Skipper is a butterfly of the Hesperiidae family. In the USA it is known as the European Skipper.thumb|left|Thymelicus lineola showing black underside to antennae tips...
, Thymelicus lineola
- Zabulon Skipper
The Zabulon Skipper, Poanes zabulon, is a North American butterfly first described by the French naturalists Jean Baptiste Boisduval and John Eatton Le Conte from the state of Georgia, United States.-Description:This small butterfly has slim, triangular wings...
, Poanes zabulon
External links
- Flora Europaea: Dactylis glomerata
- FAO factsheet: Dactylis glomerata
- Plants of Hawaii: public domain photos of Cocksfoot as an invasive species
'Invasive species' is a phrase with several definitions. The first definition expresses the phrase in terms of non-indigenous species that adversely affect the habitats they invade economically, environmentally or ecologically...
on HawaiiHawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states, and is the only state made up entirely of islands. It is located on an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of Australia. The state was admitted to the Union on August...
- http://www.agric.nsw.gov.au/reader/past-varieties/p255.htm Use of Dactylis glomerata as pasture in Australia (article from State of New South Wales, Department of Primary Industries)