Leaf
Hervé GOËAU, Tela Botanica · CC BY-SA 2.0
Cock's-foot
Dactylis glomerata L.
Also known as: Orchard grass
Family: Poaceae
30 cm to 1.2 m
Meadows, track verges, banks
Flowering: May – July
Full sun
Part shade
Very hardy, to -25°C
❓ How do you recognise this plant?
Inflorescence in compact, one-sided clusters — very different from the soft spikes of other grasses.
🍃 Leaves
Ribbon-like, folded into a keel at the base, bluish-green
🌸 Flowers
Spikelets grouped in dense, compact clusters shaped like a bird's foot
🍎 Fruits
Small grains (caryopses) enclosed in the glumes
🪵 Bark
Dense tuft of stems with a folded, not rounded, cross-section
🗺️ Distribution
Europe, temperate Asia, North Africa; very common in France in meadows and along track verges
🐝 Value for pollinators
Wind-pollinated, of little interest to pollinators
✂️ Horticultural uses
Grown as fodder and hardwearing lawn grass, used in wildflower meadows
⚠️ Possible toxicity
No known toxicity; allergenic pollen
🌿 Other Poaceae to discover
ℹ️ Educational profile — do not use it to judge whether a plant is edible or safe.
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