Elymus hystrix · Poaceae — grasses
Long awns stick sideways from an open flower spike, giving this woodland grass the shape of a bottle brush.
Family: Poaceae — grasses
Habitat: Woodlands, woodland edges and river corridors
Height: About 2–5 feet
Season: Summer flowers and seed heads
The spikelets spread almost at right angles from the central stalk. Their long awns create a loose, bristly outline. Unlike the compact cylindrical spikes of bottlebrush sedges, this head has clearly spaced grass spikelets.
The spreading, long-awned grass spikelets support the label. This photograph shows dry heads; a future green flowering view would make a useful companion.
This native perennial grows in shaded and partly shaded woodland settings. The dry heads remain useful for recognizing its distinctive structure.
The name describes its appearance, not its family: Bottlebrush Grass and Bottlebrush Sedge belong to different plant families.
References: Species identification reference. Field photographs are compared with these references; they are not herbarium determinations.