if we fail here.. the lawn forums are rather active....

ken

Crabgrass?

Possibly a type of Setaria.

Here is a link that might be useful: Setaria

Thank you - I'm pretty sure it isn't what's usually called crabgrass- although some people seem to call any grass that shows up in their lawn uninvited a crabgrass... (And it's true that I didn't send out any invitations...)

If Setarias always have those pretty foxtail seedheads, this plant gets ruled out. It did occur to me- somewhat belatedly-sorry!- that there might be a late-bloomer out there with a seedhead or two, and I did find one in the same general area as the first plant only much closer to a shading oak tree.

I should probably also mention that these are shallow-rooted, and quite easy to pull up. But they also seem to handle foot traffic pretty well. I was wondering if it could be some sort of Panicum or Carex, but I am no botanist, and no good at identifying grassy plants or their families.

Here is a close-up at the fading purple flowers on one of the seed-heads:

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Here is the clump with the two seedheads- no flowers on the other one:
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Here are 4-5 clumps growing together:
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And here's a close-up view at the hairs on the stems and blades:
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Now I'm thinking it is probably a member of the Dichanthelium tribe... Any thoughts?

It appears to be a Dichanthelium sp., which are often called rosette grasses because most species have a rosette of smaller leaves at the base. Lacking that feature it would likely default to a Panicum sp.

Can't even say for sure that the first grass that was posted is the same one since they look a bit different.

The plant in the second group of photos may be Dichanthelium laxiflorum. However, Dichanthelium typically has two flowering seasons. The first period is spring through early summer, and they often bloom again in the fall. The fall plants can have non-typical characteristics and are more difficult to ID.

If I had seen the flowers and knew it was easy to pull I would know it wasn't crab grass.

I'm fairly certain- though not 100% sure- that the plants are all of the same variety.

We do have a fair number of uninvited grasses growing in the back, and I'm glad to have some that can survive in the shade from our oak trees. I noticed several other familar looking grasses while trying to ID this one, including at least one other rosette grass, so it is possible that the first, uprooted plant was similar, but not the same.

But if the fall plants can be somewhat variable, I think that could explain why they don't look completely the same? Also the uprooted plant was a smaller, less mature plant. I think the closeup photos from the first and second groups show the same sort of somewhat hairy stem and blade. To me they look the same, but I'm not a trained botanist, so if there's a glaring discrepancy, I could easily miss it!

If you see such an incompatibility that's not likely to be due to variability of a species, please point out the difference, and I'll apologize for posting photos of two separate varieties. I don't mind being wrong in public if I can learn something from it!

jekeesl, once I got onto the Dichanthelium "track", my first thought was laxiflorum. I do think I also am hosting another species or two from this family (including commutatum), so I'll spend some time with the 'Name That Plant' web site, the USDA Plants site, and Google Images to see if I can determine which ones I've got.

Many thanks,
Virginia

PS zackey, I'm sorry I didn't include enough info with the first photos. I didn't think there would still be any seed heads/flowers this late in the season, but then I figured I'd double-check for late-bloomers to be sure...

Also I think posting photos of the grass out of context was not a great idea. I did find quite a wide variety of grasses online when I did a Google Image search for crabgrass- including some that looked quite similar. This is what tipped me off to the idea that some people will call anything "crabgrass" if it isn't a familiar turfgrass.

Happy Thanksgiving to the American readers,
Virginia