Japanese name: シラゲガヤ（白毛茅） Scientific name:Holcus lanatus
[Overview]
A perennial 0.2–1 m tall, found along roadsides and in fields.
The whole plant is densely covered with white soft hairs and looks whitish.
It does not produce stolons.
The leaves are linear, about 0.5–1 cm wide, and soft.
A broadly lanceolate to ovate flower spike 7–17 cm long and 2–8 cm wide appears at the stem tip and bears many spikelets.
The spikelets are whitish green, often tinged with purple, flattened, and consist of 2 florets.
The second floret has a hooked, curved awn about 1–2 mm long.
[History]
Plants introduced as forage grass have become naturalized in various places.
[Notes]
The Japanese name derives from the abundant white soft hairs.
