Aira elegans Roem. & Schult.

Elegant Hairgrass; Annual Silver Hairgrass

Herb

Annual

Vascular

Elegant Hairgrass is an introduced winter annual in the Grass family (Poaceae). It is native to Europe, northern Africa, and western Asia. In Alabama it is found throughout the state. Elegant Hairgrass grows in dry to moist, usually sandy disturbed sites such as on roadsides, in lawns, on playgrounds, in cemeteries, and along trails. It is a tufted annual with a fibrous root system. Culms (stems) are erect and 5-10 inches in height. The leaves are filiform to linear, glabrous, and entire. The leaf sheath is slightly scabrous. Flowers are produced in spiklets that are arranged in open, airy panicles. The inflorescence branches are unequal and the spikelet stalk is 2–8 times the length of the spikelet. The branches of the inflorescence are antrorsely scabridulous. Spiklets are silver-green or purplish in color. The glumes are subequal and are scabridulous on the upper half. The upper lemma is awned and the lower lemma is awnless or with a minute awn. The fruit is a grooved grain. Elegant Hairgrass is sometimes treated as a variety of Common Silver Hairgrass (Aira caryophyllea L.).—A. Diamond.

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Not Native

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