Grass Flower

Grasses mostly flower from the end of April through to July, although others flower later in the year, and some, annual meadow grass in particular can flower anytime during the year. A grass flower is a small feature to look at and often requires the use of a x10 or x 20 hand lens to inspect more closely. A flower head is located at the end of a flowering stalk, the culm. The flower head (or inflorescence) consists of many spikelets arranged in one of several ways, for example a panicle which is open (Annual meadow grass), a panicle which is very dense called spike-like (Timothy grasses), or as a raceme or spike, (Perennial ryegrass).

A spikelet might be joined by a stalk, called a pedicel, to the main culm, unless it is a raceme when there is no stalk. The spikelet has two outer scales called glumes. A spikelet can contain one or many florets, which are connected to the pedicel by a very short rachilla (a secondary, minor, stalk). A floret consists of an outer pair of scales, each called a lemma, and an inner pair of scales, each called a palea. Enclosed further is the stamens (x3), each with a filament, anther and pollen; and the female pistil consisting of two feathery stigmas each joined to a short style and both joined to a rounded ovary containing a single ovule. Once fertilised the ovule is the feature which grows into a grain and is typically known as the grass seed when used for oversowing swards.