HomeGrass-like Plants Homepage

Grass-like Plants Homepage

Grass-like plants are important and problematic agricultural weeds in the New York State. In general, they are hard to control due to their aggressive growth habits.  Outlined below are the commonly seen grass species in NYS.  The type of crop system they impact the most is listed next to their name.  A photo gallery is also included for visual reference to guide your search.

Problem Weeds

Barnyardgrass (vegetables and field crops)

Cheatgrass, or chess grass (field crops, winter grains)

Crabgrasses species:

    Smooth crabgrass (small fruits)

     Large crabgrass (small fruits, vegetables, field crops)

Foxtail species (ALL small fruits, vegetables, field crops):

     Green foxtail

     Giant foxtail

     Yellow foxtail 

Johnsongrass (field crops)

Orchardgrass (small fruits)

Panicum species:

     Fall panicum (small fruits, vegetables, and field crops)

     Switchgrass (sweet corn)

     Witchgrass (small fruits and field crops)

Quackgrass (small fruits, vegetables, and field crops)

Roughstalk bluegrass (field crops)

Ryegrass species:

     Italian ryegrass (field crops)

     Perennial ryegrass (vegetables)

Tall fescue (small fruits)

Wirestem muhly (field crops)

Woolly cupgrass (field crops)

Yellow nutsedge (all crop types)

 

See the gallery below for a visual representation of the above species. Then click on the links above to view your species of interest.

Barnyardgrass seed head. Photo by Lynn Sosnoskie of Cornell University.

Barnyardgrass seed head

Barnyardgrass seed head. Photo by Lynn Sosnoskie of Cornell University.

Leaves of cheatgrass

Leaves of cheat grass

Leaves of cheat grass (B. secalinus). Bruce Ackley, The Ohio State University, Bugwood.org

Large crabgrass flower head on sky blue background.

Large crabgrass flower

flowerhead of smooth crabgrass

Whole plant and habit of green foxtail.

Green foxtail whole plant

Green foxtail seedhead

Giant foxtail flower head

Close up of yellow foxtail seed head featuring greenish-yellow seeds and brownish-black ones with brownish bristles

Yellow foxtail seed head

Johnsongrass flower head

Orchard Grass Flower

Fall panicum flower head upside down.

Flower head of fall panicum

Three flower heads of switchgrass in front of black background.

Switchgrass flower head

Witchgrass flower. Photo by Lynn Sosnoskie of Cornell University.

Witchgrass

Witchgrass flower. Photo by Lynn Sosnoskie of Cornell University.

Close up of quack grass flower head.

Quackgrass flower head

Flower head (panicle type) of roughstalk bluegrass

Roughstalk bluegrass flower head

Roughstalk bluegrass panicle. Photo by Joseph M. DiTomaso of UC-Davis, via Bugwood.org.

Close up of Italian ryegrass spikelets.

Italian ryegrass spikelets

Mature perennial ryegrass in flower with natural background.

Perennial ryegrass

Flower head of tall fescue on dark mottled background.

Flower head of tall fescue

Wirestem muhly flower head. Photo by Ohio State Weed Lab, Ohio State University, via Bugwood.org

Flower head of wirestem muhly

Photo by Ohio State Weed Lab, Ohio State University, via Bugwood.org

Woolly cupgrass flowers

Yellow nutsedge flowers. Figure from "Weed Identification, Biology and Management", by Alan Watson and Antonio DiTommaso.

Yellow nutsedge flowers. Figure from “Weed Identification, Biology and Management”, by Alan Watson and Antonio DiTommaso.

Yellow nutsedge flowers. Figure from “Weed Identification, Biology and Management”, by Alan Watson and Antonio DiTommaso.