Japanese name: オオアワガエリ（大粟還） Scientific name:Phleum pratense
[Overview]
A perennial 50–130 cm tall, growing in grasslands.
It has a short rhizome and produces many stems.
The base of the stem is sometimes thickened.
The leaves are linear, 20–50 cm long and 5–10 mm wide, and slightly rough.
The leaf sheath is smooth, with a membranous ligule 1–5 mm long.
A cylindrical spike 3–20 cm long at the stem tip bears many densely set spikelets and is pale green.
The spikelets are flat and obovate, 3–3.5 mm long; the glumes are membranous with long white hairs on the back and end in a short awn.
[Uses]
It is cultivated as forage grass in pastures, or cut and dried for use as livestock feed.
[History]
Introduced as forage grass at the beginning of the Meiji era, it has become naturalized and wild in many places.
It is most often seen in northern regions and at high elevations.
