Piptochaetium avenaceum (L.) Parodi

Eastern Needlegrass; Black Oatgrass; Black Seed Speargrass

Herb

Perennial

Vascular

Eastern Needlegrass is a native herbaceous perennial in the Grass family (Poaceae). It is native to most of Alabama. Eastern Needlegrass occurs in dry, open hardwood forests, in longleaf pine forests, in dry to mesic mixed pine/hardwood forests, and in sandy woods. It is a perennial with a fibrous root system. Eastern Needlegrass is a warm season clump-forming grass with the flowering/fruiting culms reaching 2-3 feet in height. Leaves occur primarily in a basal clump with a few reduced leaves on the culms. The leaves are linear, 4-12 inches in length, involute, 3-veined, and glabrous. The leaves are scabrous over the veins and along the margins. The nodes and sheaths are glabrous and the ligule is rounded and entire. Flowers occur in open panicles of 15-25 one-flowered spikelets. The lower glume is 3 veined and the upper is 5 veined. The callus is stalk-like and sharply pointed. The callus hairs are yellow-brown at maturity and the lemma is brown. The awn is 2-3 inches in length and twisted near the base. The fruit is a grain. The awn of Eastern Needlegrass is sensitive to changes in humidity and will twist and contort, drilling the seed into the ground. If you walk through a patch of Eastern Needlegrass when the fruit is mature you will often find the sharply pointed fruit embedded in your shoes and clothing. The fruit can also attach to a dog’s coat and pierce the skin or become embedded internally if ingested or inhaled.—A. Diamond

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Native

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