Scolochloa

Scolochloa 

a genus of herbaceous plants of the family Gramineae. There is a single species, the perennial 5. festucacea. The plant is 70–200 cm tall and has a long, spreading rhizome and flat leaf blades. The inflorescence is a panicle reaching 30 cm in length. The spikelets, which are usually three- or four-flowered, break up during fruiting. The lemma has bundles of coarse hairs at the base. S. festucacea is distributed in the temperate zone of the northern hemisphere. In the USSR it grows in the European portion, the Caucasus, and Siberia; it occurs in the forest, forest-steppe, and—to a lesser extent—steppe zones along bodies of water, in marshes, and in marshy meadows. The plant forms a dense cover in some places. It is used for hay and, sometimes, for silage. The plant is a valuable food source for muskrats and other aquatic animals.