There are many nuisance grass species. While we may not want to see these grasses out in the field, it’s important to know how to tell them apart from more desirable species.

Are my annual plants “junk food” for bees? Can I help pollinators by not mowing my lawn? How can I help pollinators thrive if I don’t have a garden? This presentation explorespollinator questions that have nuanced, uncertain, or controversial answers. 

Yellow Foxtail, Setaria pumila, is a non-native summer annual found across Illinois in disturbed habitats. It grows between one and three feet tall and its stem is a bit flattened. The leaf sheaths are keeled, looking like they have a crease from being folded in half. Sometimes you can...

Velvet Grass, Holcus lanatus, is a non-native cool season grass found in scattered counties in Illinois in moist, disturbed habitats. This grass grows three to four feet tall and its defining trait is its hairiness. Velvet Grass is densely covered in short, white, velvety hairs, giving...

Timothy, Phleum pratense, is a non-native, cool season grass found in every county in Illinois. Used as a forage grass, it prefers growing in fields and other disturbed habitats. It grows two to four feet tall and its foliage has a gray to blue-green appearance. Its leaves are broad and...

Tall Fescue, Schedonorus arundinaceus, is a non-native, cool season grass found in fields, disturbed habitats, and planted as a lawn grass. Tall Fescue is a bunchgrass that grows two to five feet tall. Its leaves are stiff and sharply angled at the collar to be held about 90 degrees...

Smooth Brome, Bromus inermis, is a non-native, cool season grass found throughout Illinois. It grows between two and four feet tall, and it produces rather weak, broad leaves that have an m-shaped crimp across the blades, which you can feel if you run the blade between your fingers. It...

Side Oats Grama, Bouteloua curtipendula, is a native, warm season grass found throughout Illinois. It is a bunchgrass that grows two to three feet tall, and the young leaves have a distinctive trait. Along the edges of the leaf blades look for small glands, each with a single hair on top of them...

River Oats, Chasmanthium latifolium, is a native, cool season grass found in moist woods and along streams in large colonies. It is also a popular landscape grass. It typically grows two to four feet tall and it has wide leaf blades that taper to a point. There is also a short hairy...

Purpletop, Tridens flavus, is a native, warm season grass that can be found in savannahs, fields, and roadsides, and grows three to five feet tall. Its stems, rachis, and spikelets are covered in a thin layer of an oily substance, leading to its other common name of Grease Grass. At the...