Reed Sweet-grass - Glyceria maxima

Description

Tall (60 to 200 cm) very erect grass forming dense stands. Leaves flat and more or less folded to 2 cm wide. Inflorescences are erect, dense, much branched spreading panicles 15 to 30 cm long. Spikelets are 5 to 8 mm, narrow oval (not cylindrical).

Identification difficulty
Habitat

By rivers streams and wet ditches.

When to see it

July and August.

Life History

Perennial.

UK Status

Fairly frequent in England quite localised elsewhere in Britain.

VC55 Status

Fairly frequent in Leicestershire and Rutland. In the 1979 Flora survey of Leicestershire it was found in 212 of the 617 tetrads.

Leicestershire & Rutland Map

MAP KEY:

Yellow squares = NBN records (all known data)
Coloured circles = NatureSpot records: 2020+ | 2015-2019 | pre-2015

UK Map

Species profile

Common names
Reed Sweet-grass, Great Water Grass
Species group:
Grasses, Rushes & Sedges
Kingdom:
Plantae
Order:
Poales
Family:
Poaceae
Records on NatureSpot:
73
First record:
27/05/2000 (MBNHS;Steve Woodward)
Last record:
24/08/2023 (O'Brien, Helen)

Total records by month

% of records within its species group

10km squares with records

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