Wetland and Aquatic Plants of Oklahoma

Interactive Keys: Emergent

Foxtail (Alopecurus sp.)

Carolina foxtail (Alopecurus carolinianus Walt.) 
Native annual.
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Note: A diminutive plant that is common, though not abundant, in most wetlands.

NWI status: FACW 

Sandreed (Calamovilfa spp.) 

Cumberland sandreed (Calamovilfa arcuata K.E. Rogers) 
Native perennial.

Note: A rare species.

NWI status: FACW 

Lovegrass (Eragrostis spp. and Neeragrostis spp.) 

Note: These two grasses are very similar in appearance; both are low growing, mat forming species that establish in lake drawdown areas. 

Teal lovegrass (Eragrostis hypnoides (Lam.) B.S.P.) 
Native annual.

Note: Leaves are rolled at the margin (involute).

NWI status: OBL 

Creeping lovegrass (Neeragrostis reptans (Michx.) Nicora) 
Native annual.

Note: Leaves are flat and narrow.

NWI status: OBL

Managrass (Glyceria spp.)

Note: the seeds of all three species are eaten by waterfowl and other wildlife.

Flowers (spikelets) narrow

Arkansas mannagrass (Glyceria arkansana Fern.) 
Native perennial.

Note: Can be easily confused with floating mannagrass.

NWI status: OBL

Floating mannagrass (Glyceria septentrionalis A.S. Hitchc.) 
Native perennial.

NWI status: OBL

Flowers (spikelets) lance shaped

Fowl mannagrass (Glyceria striata (Lam.) A.S. Hitchc.) 
Native perennial.

Note: This is the most broadly distributed species of managrass.

NWI status: OBL 

Cutgrass (Leersia spp.) 

Lower panicles in whorls

Rice cutgrass (Leersia oryzoides (L.) Sw.) 
Native perennial.

Note: The most widely distributed species of cutgrass in Oklahoma.  It is also a larval host plant for several species of skippers and other insects.

NWI status: OBL 

Lower panicles alternate  

Catchfly grass (Leersia lenticularis Michx.) 
Native perennial.

Note: spikelets are oval.

NWI status: OBL

Virginia cutgrass (Leersia virginica Willd.) 
Native perennial.

Note: spikelets are oblong.

NWI status: OBL

Canarygrass (Phalaris spp.)

Carolina canarygrass (Phalaris caroliniana Walt.) 
Native annual.

Note: Plants grow in tufts.

NWI status: FACW

Reed canarygrass (Phalaris arundinacea L.) 
Native perennial.

Note: Plants produce a rhizome.

NWI status: OBL
 
Reed (Phragmites sp.)

Common reed (Phragmites australis (Cav.) Trin. ex Steud.) 
Native perennial.

Note: This a tall, robust plant that is most common in western Oklahoma.  Common reed is a fiber plant by many tribes.

NWI status: FACW 

Rabbitsfoot (Polypogon sp.)

Rabbitsfoot grass (Polypogon monspeliensis (L.) Desf.) 
Introduced annual.

Note: Rabbitsfoot is a native of Europe.  It is most commonly seen in western Oklahoma wetlands.

NWI status: FACW 

Plumegrass (Saccharum spp.)

Narrow plumegrass (Saccharum baldwinii Spreng.) 
Native perennial.

Note: Flowering stalk with closely appressed panicles.

NWI status: OBL

Sugarcane plumegrass (Saccharum giganteum (Walt.) Pers.) 
Native perennial.

Note: Flowers open and plume-like.

NWI status: FACW 

Cordgrass (Spartina spp.)

Prairie cordgrass (Spartina pectinata Bosc ex Link) 
Native perennial.

Note: The young shoots are prefered by cattle.  Often absent in wet, grazed pastures, but growing vigorous in ditches on the otherside of the fence.  Geese, muskrats, and beaver eat the rhizome and some birds will eat the seed (caryopses).  The stems were used as a construction material by some tribes, including the Poncas.

NWI status: OBL 

Giant cutgrass (Zizaniopsis miliacea (Michx.) Doell & Aschers) 
Native perennial.

NWI status: OBL

Last update: 2/27/04
Comments to : Bruce Hoagland

bhoagland@ou.edu

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