Dactylis glomerata


Dactylis glomerata is a species of flowering plant in the grass family Poaceae, known as cock's-foot, also colloquially as orchard grass, or cat grass. It is a cool-season perennial C3 tufted grass native throughout most of Europe, temperate Asia, and northern Africa.

Distribution

Dactylis glomerata occurs from sea level in the north of its range, to as high as 4,000 metres in elevation in the south of its range in Pakistan. It is widely used for hay and forage.
It is a principal species in the widespread National Vegetation Classification habitat community MG1 in the United Kingdom, and so can be found with Arrhenatherum elatius.
It can be found in meadows, pasture, roadsides, and rough grassland.
It has been introduced into North America, New Zealand and Australia, and is now widely naturalised. In some areas, it has become an invasive species.

Description

Cock's-foot grows in dense perennial tussocks to tall, with grey-green leaves long and up to broad, and a distinctive tufted triangular flowerhead long, which may be either green or red- to purple-tinged, turning pale grey-brown at seed maturity. The spikelets are long, typically containing two to five flowers. It has a characteristic flattened stem base which distinguishes it from many other grasses.
It flowers from June to September.
Image:Dactylis glomerata bluete1.jpeg|thumb|right|Flower head

Taxonomy

Dactylis glomerata is treated as the sole species in the genus Dactylis by some authors, while others include one to four other species. It is commonly divided into several regional subspecies, particularly by those authors accepting only the single species. Plants of [the World Online] accepts 20 subspecies.
  • Dactylis glomerata subsp. glomerata – widespread; described from Europe
  • Dactylis glomerata subsp. hackelii – Mediterranean and Madeira
  • Dactylis glomerata subsp. hispanica – Mediterranean and western Asia to Afghanistan
  • Dactylis glomerata subsp. hyrcana – eastern Transcaucasus
  • Dactylis glomerata nothosubsp. intercedens – Germany and Czechoslovakia
  • Dactylis glomerata subsp. izcoi – Portugal and western Spain
  • Dactylis glomerata subsp. judaica – Israel
  • Dactylis glomerata subsp. juncinella – western and central Europe to the Caucasus
  • Dactylis glomerata subsp. lusitanica – northwestern Spain to central Portugal
  • Dactylis glomerata subsp. mairei – northeastern Algeria
  • Dactylis glomerata subsp. merinoana – Iberian Peninsula
  • Dactylis glomerata subsp. nestorii – Balearic Islands
  • Dactylis glomerata subsp. oceanica – western and northwestern France
  • Dactylis glomerata subsp. reichenbachii – Alps
  • Dactylis glomerata subsp. rigida – Crete
  • Dactylis glomerata subsp. santai – northern Algeria and Tunisia
  • Dactylis glomerata subsp. slovenica – Alps, Carpathians, and northern Balkan Peninsula
  • Dactylis glomerata subsp. stebbinsii – southern Spain
  • Dactylis glomerata subsp. woronowii – Caucasus
Dactylis glomerata subsp. glomerata and subsp. hispanica are tetraploid forms with 28 chromosomes; some of the other subspecies, including subsp. himalayensis and subsp. lobata are diploid, with 2n = 14. Hexaploid forms with 42 chromosomes are also known, but rare. Tetraploid forms are larger and coarser than diploid forms.

Cultivation and uses

Cock's-foot is widely used as a hay grass and for pastures because of its high yields and sugar content, which makes it sweeter than most other temperate grasses. In dry areas as in much of Australia, Mediterranean subspecies such as subsp. hispanica are preferred for their greater drought tolerance. It requires careful grazing management; if it is undergrazed it becomes coarse and unpalatable.
In some areas to which it has been introduced, cock's-foot has become an invasive weed, notably some areas of the eastern United States.
As with other grasses, the pollen can cause allergic rhinitis in some people.
The grass is popularly grown to satisfy the craving of domestic cats to chew grass, hence its colloquial name cat grass.
The seeds were first collected by Rogers Parker in Hertfordshire; this was then developed by the agricultural reformer Coke of Norfolk. Parker's estate, Munden, near Bricket Wood, was inherited by the botanist George Hibbert.

Butterfly foodplant

The caterpillars of many butterfly species feed on cock's foot, including:
Doom metal band Candlemass named their 1998 studio album after the ''Dactylis glomerata.''