Description: This native perennial
grass is 2-4' tall, more or less erect, and unbranched or sparingly so. The
culms are light to yellowish green, terete, hollow, and sparingly covered with
short stiff hairs. The blades of the alternate leaves are up to 9" long and
1/3" across; they are linear, dull green, and somewhat rough on their upper and
lower surfaces from short stiff hairs. The margins of the leaf blades are very
rough and sharp from fine saw-teeth. The leaf sheaths are light green, finely
ribbed, and quite rough from short stiff hairs; each sheath wraps around the
culm, except for a narrow V-shaped opening at its apex. The short ligules lack
significant hairs and papery membranes. The nodes along each culm are pubescent
and slightly swollen. Each culm terminates in a panicle of spikelets up to 8"
long and 4" across; when fully open and exerted from the uppermost leaf, the
panicle is broader at the base than the apex and its branchlets spread outward.
However, young panicles are often only partially exerted from the uppermost
leaf and their branchlets are more erect. The lower half of each branchlet is
naked, while the upper half has about 4-12 contiguous spikelets. These
spikelets are often arranged in a row on one side of the branchlet. Each
spikelet is about 4.0–5.0 mm. long, 1.5–2.0 mm. across, and light
green; it consists of a single lemma and an enclosed palea. There are no
glumes. Each lemma is the same size as the spikelet, while the palea is a
little smaller. The lemma is oblongoid and somewhat flattened; one side of the
lemma is more rounded than the other. The keel of the lemma has short stiff
hairs. The flower of each lemma has 3 stamens with white anthers and 2 feathery
white stigmas. The blooming period occurs during late summer into the fall.
Pollination is by wind. Each spikelet produces a single grain. The root system
is rhizomatous and fibrous. Dense colonies of plants are often
produced.
Cultivation: The
preference is full sun, wet to moist conditions, and fertile soil that is mucky
or silty. This adaptable grass tolerates partial sun and other kinds of soil,
including soil that is gravelly and sandy. It is somewhat aggressive in
disturbed wetlands.
Range &
Habitat: Rice Cutgrass is a common plant that occurs throughout
Illinois (see
Distribution
Map). Habitats include marshes, sandy pannes, gravelly seeps, swamps,
prairie swales, low-lying areas along
rivers and ponds, and drainage ditches. This grass
thrives in degraded wetlands, although it also occurs in higher quality wetland
habitats.
Faunal Associations: The
caterpillars of Ancyloxypha numitor (Least Skipper) and Polites
peckius (Peck's Skipper) feed on the foliage. The seedheads of Rice
Cutgrass are eaten by the Swamp Sparrow, Tree Sparrow, Sora Rail, Canada Goose,
and various ducks (see the Bird
Table for a complete listing of these species). The foliage of this harsh
grass deters most mammalian herbivores, although muskrats feed on the
rootstocks.
Photographic Location: A
drainage ditch in Champaign, Illinois. The immature inflorescence in the upper
photograph is barely exerted from the culm near the uppermost leaf –
however, it will become more exerted and expansive as it
matures.
Comments: As the common
name suggests, this grass has leaf blades that can slice through human flesh.
In addition to the sharp leaf blades, the rough foliage of this grass can cling
tenaciously to clothing, flesh, or fur. It is an unpleasant experience to walk
through a dense colony of this grass while wearing summer shorts. These
unpleasant characteristics help to distinguish Rice Cutgrass from other
grasses: In my experience, no other grass species in Illinois has such sharp
leaf blades and rough foliage! The spikelets of Rice Cutgrass are somewhat
unusual because they have a single lemma and lack any glumes. Other grasses
usually have a pair of glumes at the base of each spikelet and 2 or more
lemmas. A less common species that occurs in wetlands, Leersia
lenticularis (Catchfly Grass), has a similar appearance to Rice Cutgrass.
However, Catchfly Grass has ovoid spikelets that are at least 3 mm. across and
its foliage is less rough and sharp. The spikelets of Rice Cutgrass are
oblongoid and no more than 2 mm. across.