Names link to more information on identification and biology.
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| Annual grasses |
Annual bluegrass
(Poa annua): Grass family; winter annual or where irrigated
a summer annual; leaf tip shaped like bow of a boat; membranous
ligule rounded with slightly pointed tip; leaf blade crinkled
at midsection.
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Ripgut brome
(Bromus diandrus): Grass family; winter
annual; tubular sheath and soft (ciliate) hairs on margins
of leaves and sheath distinguishes it from most other
grass seedlings; membranous ligule is long, whitish,
and jagged; no auricles present; dig down and check for
the absence of a seed coat in comparison with the seed
coat present on wild oat.
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Soft brome
(Bromus hordeaceus): Grass family; winter annual,
but some plants germinate in early spring; membranous
ligules; no auricles present.
|
Hare
barley
(Hordeum murinum ssp. leporinum): Grass family; winter annual;
papery ligule with long and narrow clasping auricles; hairy foliage. |
Littleseed canarygrass
(Phalaris minor): Grass family; winter annual; first
leaves bluish green; large, white ligule inside
the leaf blade where its base wraps the stem; leaf sheath
with a reddish base; crown and primary root of seedling distinctly
reddened.
|
Italian ryegrass
(Lolium multiflorum): Grass family; winter annual; first blade erect,
long, and narrow; leaves rolled in bud, blades with shiny, varnished appearance;
ligule membranous; usually auricles present, but sometimes absent on very
young seedlings. |
Longspine sandbur
(Cenchrus longispinus): Grass family; summer
annual; seedling leaves are flattened, have a purplish
tinge at the bottom; distinctive identification characteristic
is the bur, from which the young plant emerges, found
by digging carefully around the roots.
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Wild oat
(Avena fatua): Grass family; winter annual; first leaves
with small marginal hairs and counterclockwise twist when viewed
from above; ligule large, papery, and pointed. |
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