Dactylis glomerata

Orchard Grass is a cool-season perennial bunching grass that grows up to 6 feet high. It is a cespitose (clumping, mat-forming) grass native to Eurasia and Africa that is generally considered a weed. It can be found in meadows, pasture, roadsides, and rough grassland and has become invasive in some areas of eastern USA. Orchard grass forms a dense network of non-rhizomatous roots, making it useful for erosion control. It has been introduced throughout most of the cool-temperate regions of the world as a forage grass in pastures, and for hay and silage production. It is highly palatable to all classes of livestock, although it is considered a weed in turf grass. Cats are said to like to chew it, hence the common name Cat Grass. Each culm terminates in an inflorescence on a long naked stalk. The culms are light green, terete, and glabrous; later they become straw-colored (stramineous). The leaves of both fertile and infertile shoots have a similar appearance.