Poaceae

Nit grass

Gastridium phleoides (Nees & Meyen) C.E.Hubb.

Family: Poaceae
Genus: Gastridium

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Nit grass: Gastridium ventricosum at Phleger Estates, Golden Gate National Recreation Area (San Mateo County, California, US). "Photos copyrighted as, "Robert Steers/NPS," — Photo: Robert Steers/NPS, CC0, from Wikimedia Commons

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Common names

By language (3)

English: Nit grass
Finnish: Tähkiönyyläheinä
Welsh: Neddwellt y Dwyrain

Synonyms

Agrostis phleoides (Nees & Meyen) É.Desv.
Calamagrostis phleoides (Nees & Meyen) Steud.
Gastridium lendigerum var. longiaristatum Schweinf.
Gastridium oblongatum Coincy
Gastridium oblongum Coincy
Gastridium ventricosum subsp. phleoides (Nees & Meyen) Tzvelev
Gastridium ventricosum var. phleoides (Nees & Meyen) Tzvelev
Lachnagrostis phleoides Nees & Meyen

Characteristics

Growth habit: Graminoid
Lifespan: Annual
In the US and Canada: Canada: native, Hawaii: introduced, Lower 48 states: introduced

Photos

Photo: Robert Steers/NPS, CC0, from Wikimedia Commons
Photo: iNaturalist user: dickrawson, CC BY 4.0, from Wikimedia Commons

More in Gastridium

Sources: classification, synonyms from World Flora Online Plant List (2026-06, CC0 1.0); common names, popularity from Wikidata (2026-10-26, CC0 1.0); common names, US characteristics from USDA PLANTS Database (2025-05-29, CC0 1.0). About our plant data.