Identifying Grass Seedlings
Orchardgrass (Dactylis glomerata)
Orchardgrass is a clump-forming forage grass without rhizomes or stolons. The stems and sheaths are distinctly flat and smooth. The plant is pale green with smooth, folded leaf blades that are 3–8 mm wide when flat. Auricles are absent, and the ligule is a prominent, round membrane but sometimes pointed.
Orchardgrass forms clumps without rhizomes or stolons.
Collar region; prominent ligule.
Orchardgrass may be found in a variety of disturbed sites. It is considered a forage species but may be undesirable in turfgrass because of its off-green color. Its seed is often found as a contaminant in turfgrass seed sold commercially. Orchardgrass is tolerant of partial shade.
Orchardgrass is a native plant of Europe and has naturalized widely across North America. It is scattered throughout Missouri.
Goosegrass also has folded leaf blades, but its ligule is much smaller than the large membranous ligule of orchardgrass.