Extension > Garden > Diagnose a problem > Is this plant a weed? > Grass > Quackgrass
Quackgrass
Elytrigia repens (L.) Beauv.
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Found in:
- Lawns and landscape beds
Characteristics:
- Perennial grass that grows best during cool temperatures (spring, fall)
- Often bluish-green in color
- Forms loose to dense clusters
- Leaves are 2 - 12” long and 1/4 - 3/8” wide; often appearing slightly twisted as they unfurl from the shoot
- Auricles (claw-like appendages at the base of the leaf) wrap around (clasp) stem
- Flower heads are spike-like
- Underground stems (rhizomes) are sharp tipped and extensive, rooting at the nodes (joints)
Significance
- Minnesota Secondary Noxious Weed
- Creeping underground stems (rhizomes) easily break apart and remain in the soil to grow new plants
- Tolerates average lawn mowing height of 2 - 3”
Plants that look similar:
- Tall Fescue
- Orchardgrass
