Vulpia myuros var. myuros (annual fescue, "Naginatagaya")

Japanese name: ナギナタガヤ （薙刀茅）
Scientific name: Vulpia myuros var. myuros

[Overview]
An annual 10–70 cm tall, growing in sunny grasslands and along roadsides on flat land, often forming colonies.
There is no rhizome; the thin culms (stems) form many clumps, and the whole plant is tinged powdery white.
The leaves are linear, 2–15 cm long and no more than 0.3 cm wide; in the basal leaves the margins roll inward to form a tube.
The leaf surface is hairy and the margins are rough.
The leaf sheaths are hairless.
A flower spike 5–30 cm long and 1–2 cm wide is produced at the tip of the stem, densely bearing many spikelets on one side, and the spike curves like a bow.
The lower part of the spike is hidden inside the uppermost leaf sheath.
The spikelets are short-stalked and consist of 3–7 florets; they are pale green and 0.7–1 cm long excluding the awn.
The margin of the lemma has minute projections, and there is an awn 1–1.5 cm long at the tip.

[History]
It is said to have been introduced to Japan in the Meiji era.

[Uses]
Because it grows in dense colonies and suppresses the growth of other weeds, it is used for weed control and for greening.

[Notes]
The Japanese name comes from the shape of the flower spike.

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