|
|
Matgrass (wirebent, moor
matgrass)
Poaceae (=Gramineae), the grass family
|
Background
|
 Matgrass is native to eastern Europe. It reproduces mostly
through transport of tufts in mud clinging to the hooves of grazing animals.
It is a course-textured grass that is not palatable to most livestock, and
it eliminates other vegetation within each dense tuft. Matgrass is generally
found in seasonally saturated mountain meadows. |
Description
|
Matgrass is a slow-growing
perennial bunchgra ss, with
tufts reaching 3 feet across or more. Leaves are grasslike, up to 1/4-inch
wide but appearing narrower because blades are tightly folded along the
midrib. The blade spreads at nearly a right angle along the stem. The
ligule
is short and membranous;
auricles are lacking. Stems grow up to 8 inches
tall and are tipped by inconspicuous slender spikes that emerge in
midsummer
and bear all spikelets on one side of the stem. Spikelets are tiny and straw
colored and tipped by short, straight awns. Tufts are tightly rooted and
hard to remove.
|
Distribution
|
 Matgrass is found
in a few places in the northeast U.S.
and sparingly in Idaho.
|
Control
|
|
Matgrass has no biological control agents. Herbicides can
kill individual tufts, which are easily hidden in vegetation. Broadcast
applications of nonselective herbicides are needed for eradication.
|
|
© 1999 University of Idaho:
Text and photographs for these pages from Idaho's Noxious Weeds, by
Robert H. Callihan and Timothy W. Miller (revised by Don W. Morishita
and Larry W. Lass).
Please contact: Ag Publishing, University of Idaho, Moscow,
Idaho 83844-2240; 208 882-7982 visit the Resources for Idaho website at
http://info.ag.uidaho.edu, for more information about this or other
publications.
|
|
|
|
