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• True grasses
• Nardus stricta

Nardus stricta — doormat grass

Facts

Doormat grass is a non-native grass that has been collected in Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont, where it colonizes fields, roadsides, river banks and ski trails.

Habitat

Anthropogenic (man-made or disturbed habitats), floodplain (river or stream floodplains), meadows and fields

Characteristics

• Flowers

  Anther length

  1–4 mm

  Anther number

  3

  Awn on glume

  the glume has no awn

  Bristles below spikelets

  no

  Floret lower bract texture

  the lemma is thin and flexible

  Floret number

  1

  Floret types within spikelet

  all the florets within a spikelet are similar

  Glume awn length

  0 mm

  Glume relative length

  neither glume is quite as long as all of the florets

  Glume shape

  NA

  Glume veins

  NA

  Glumes per spikelet

  • 0
  • 1
  • 2

  Inflorescence arrangement

  the spikelets are uniform

  Inflorescence axis orientation

  • the inflorescence axis is arched or curved outward
  • the inflorescence axis is straight

  Inflorescence branch length

  0 cm

  Inflorescence branch roughness

  NA

  Inflorescence branches

  there are no branch points between the base of the inflorescence axis and the flowers, or they are not obvious

  Inflorescence branches coming off the lowest stem node

  0

  Inflorescence crowding

  NA

  Inflorescence length

  10–80 mm

  Inflorescence type (general)

  the inflorescence is a spike, or is spike-like, lacking obvious branches

  Inflorescence type (specific)

  the inflorescence is a spike (a long unbranched stem with flowers along it that lack stalks)

  Inforescence position

  the spikelets are mainly carried at the end of the stem

  Lemma awn base

  the awn is attached right at the tip of the lemma

  Lemma awn coiled

  the lemma awn is straight or twisted, but not coiled one half turn

  Lemma awn length

  1–4.5 mm

  Lemma awn number

  the lemma has one awn on it

  Lemma awn orientation

  the awn of the lemma is straight

  Lemma base hair length

  0 mm

  Lemma base hairs

  the lemma is hairless or feels just a tiny bit rough at the base

  Lemma cross-section

  the lemma is V-shaped if you cut across the midpoint

  Lemma surface

  the surface of the lemma is relatively smooth (not counting any longitudinal veins or hairs)

  Lemma tip

  the lemma tip is a simple point, with or without an awn (long narrow extension ending in a point)

  Lemma tip shape

  the lemma tip tapers to a long narrow point (it may or may not also have an awn or teeth at the tip)

  Lemma vein number

  3

  Lemma vein orientation

  the veins on the lemma come together near the tip

  Lower glume relative length

  • NA
  • the lower glume is one third or less as long as the upper glume

  One or more florets

  there is one floret per spikelet

  Palea relative length

  palea is one half to fully as long as lemma

  Reproductive system

  all the flowers on the plant have both carpels and stamens (synoecious)

  Spikelet axis tip

  there is no extension of the spikelet axis beyond the tip of the spikelet

  Spikelet disintegration

  the spikelet breaks off above the glumes, so that after the florets fall off, the glumes remain

  Spikelet length

  5–10 mm

  Spikelet number per node

  1

  Spikelet pedicel

  the spikelets do not have pedicels

  Spikelet pedicel length

  0 mm

  Spikelet position

  NA

  Spikelet shape

  the spikelets are lanceolate (lance-shaped, widest below the middle and tapering narrowly to the ends) in profile

  Spikelets per panicle branch

  0

  Spikelets spiny

  the spikelets do not appear spiny

  Tip of glume

  • NA
  • the tip of the glume is not divided (though it may have an awn on it)

  Upper glume length

  At least 0 mm

  Upper glume relative length

  NA

  Upper glume shape

  the upper glume is widest at or below the middle

• Fruits or seeds

  Seed length

  3–4.5 mm

• Growth form

  Lifespan

  the plant lives more than two years

• Leaves

  Basal leaves

  the plant has large or prominent tufts of leaves at the base of the flowering stem

  Leaf auricles

  the leaves do not have auricles

  Leaf basal lobe hairy

  NA

  Leaf blade hairs

  the leaf blade is hairy

  Leaf blade length

  4–30 cm

  Leaf blade texture

  the leaf blade is rough and sandpapery

  Leaf blade width

  0.5–1 mm

  Leaf ligule length

  0.5–2 mm

  Leaf ligule type

  the leaf ligule is in the form of a membrane

  Leaf margin glands

  there are no glands along the edges of the leaf blade

  Leaf sheath closed around stem

  the margins of the leaf sheath are overlapping and not fused together except in the basal half (or less)

  Leaf sheath color and persistence

  the leaf sheathes are off-white to light-brown and mostly persist in older leaves

  Leaf sheath hair type

  there are no hairs on the surface of the leaf sheath

  Leaf sheath hairs

  there are no hairs on the surface of the leaf sheath

• Place

  Habitat

  terrestrial

  New England state

  • Massachusetts
  • New Hampshire
  • Vermont

  Specific habitat

  • man-made or disturbed habitats
  • meadows or fields
  • river or stream floodplains

• Stem, shoot, branch

  Plant height

  3–60 cm

  Roots at lower stem nodes

  no

  Stem orientation

  the stems are upright

  Stem spacing

  the stems grow close together in compact clusters or tufts

Wetland status

Not classified

New England distribution and conservation status

From the dichotomous key of Flora Novae Angliae