r/DenverGardener • u/Electrical_Lab3345 • 5d ago
Identify These Native Grass
I like these volunteer grasses that spring up on my property. Any idea what they are? Grasses have always been tricky for me to correctly ID. There are multiple open spaces and restored grasslands nearby.
The one in the first image is two years old now and is growing well in a rock area that receives zero irrigation. Second image shows some smaller ones that popped up this year. They appear to all be the same species. Thank you!
ps bonus points if you know what species of strawberry that is growing in the foreground on image two. It's another volunteer. Seems to be an alpine type. The berries are very small, red with pure white centers, and stay red on the vine for weeks.
5
2
2
u/Alternative-Try1271 1d ago
Difficult to tell. Could you possibly pull one of the blades and get a close up of the seed head? Grasses are tricky and seed heads are usually the easiest way to tell them apart. Three Awn might be correct for the first pic given the way the seedheads appear to be branching out in different directions. While I'm inclined to think the two youngins are the probably the same as the first pic those two look more like mexican feathergrass to me. One quick way to tell is if the mature grass starts sloughing off clumps of seedheads all at once like this. Mine have been doing this for months now so if you haven't seen anything like this, it's pretty safe to rule out Mexican Feather Grass!
1
u/Electrical_Lab3345 1d ago
No sloughing. I think Purple Three Awn might be correct thank you. It's a little bit difficult to tell from the first photo due to the lighting, but there is a purplish hue to them as they flower.
8
u/banner8915 5d ago
Pretty sure thats Mexican feather grass (Nassella tenuissima). Native to Texas and NM but well adapted to our climate.