Wildflowers, Grasses and Other Nonwoody Plants
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Species Types
Scientific Name
Sporobolus heterolepis
Description
Prairie dropseed is a native perennial bunch grass that forms dense clumps of fine, light green, arching leaves. The seed heads are airy, open, branching clusters bearing small, ovate florets on their own individual branchlets.
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Species Types
Scientific Name
Festuca arundinacea
Description
You’ve seen it a million times, now learn to identify it! Technically an exotic invasive plant, tall fescue is practically everywhere, from lawns to levees, and from pastures to (unfortunately!) prairies.
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Species Types
Scientific Name
Acorus calamus (syn. A. calamus var. calamus)
Description
At a glance, the upright sword-shaped leaves of sweet flag make it resemble cattails. Like them, sweet flag lives in wet soils. But the flower heads are distinctive, and details of the leaves set them apart, too.
See Also
About Wildflowers, Grasses and Other Nonwoody Plants in Missouri
A very simple way of thinking about the green world is to divide the vascular plants into two groups: woody and nonwoody (or herbaceous). But this is an artificial division; many plant families include some species that are woody and some that are not. The diversity of nonwoody vascular plants is staggering! Think of all the ferns, grasses, sedges, lilies, peas, sunflowers, nightshades, milkweeds, mustards, mints, and mallows — weeds and wildflowers — and many more!