Annual Beard-grass - Polypogon monspeliensis

Description

An erect grass reaching 20 to 80 cm in height. Leaves are flat and rough with long pointed, toothed ligules and inflated upper sheaths. Panicle oblong, 2 to 8 cm long, with dense, silky, sometimes yellowish.

Identification difficulty
Recording advice

Either obtain confirmation from a County Recorder before submitting a record, or submit detailed images showing key features.  We recommend that you take and retain a specimen; the County Recorder may wish to see this for confirmation. 

When to see it

Flowers June and July.

UK Status

Widespread in much of Britain as a casual introduction from birdseed mix and this has led to more records inland. It is only native to parts of south eastern England. It becomes much less common in the far north.

VC55 Status

Rare in Leicestershire and Rutland. It was not recorded in the Flora of Leicestershire (Primavesi & Evans, 1988)

It is on the VC55 Checklist (Jeeves 2011) as Alien (Casual) with 2 recent records

Leicestershire & Rutland Map

MAP KEY:

Yellow squares = NBN records (all known data)
Coloured circles = NatureSpot records: 2025+ | 2020-2024 | pre-2020

UK Map

Species profile

Common names
Annual Beard-grass
Species group:
flowering plant
Kingdom:
Plantae
Order:
Poales
Family:
Poaceae
Records on NatureSpot:
4
First record:
23/06/2016 (Calow, Graham)
Last record:
09/06/2025 (Calow, Graham)

Total records by month

% of records within its species group

10km squares with records

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