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Nationally Scarce
Nit-grass Detail
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Nit-grass: spikelet x10
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Nit-grass
Gastridium ventricosum
IDENTIFICATION:
Nit-grass is an erect grass up to 50 cm tall which usually grows in tufts. The leaves are up to 10cm long and 4 mm wide, but are usually smaller, with a short ligule. The flowers are borne in a compact terminal spike which is spear-shaped and tapers to a point. The lemmas usually have a bent awn up to 4mm in length.
Similar species: Other grasses of arable land with flowers in compact spikes are the very common Black-grass which has long, cylindrical spikes, and Annual Vernal-grass which has distinctive tufts of hairs at the junction of leaf and stem.
Associated uncommon species:
Lesser Quakinggrass also occurs at its only known site in Hampshire.
HABITAT:
Arable field margins, set-aside, drought-prone calcareous grassland especially near the coast.
SOIL TYPE:
Thin soils over (usually) Jurassic or Carboniferous limestones; calcareous clays where these are welldrained or prone to summer drought; and sometimes other soil types.
MANAGEMENT REQUIREMENTS:
Autumn cultivation.
Nit-grass Distibution Map

DISTRIBUTION:

As an arable species, Nit-grass was formerly widespread in the south and east of England. It now occurs in one known arable site in Hampshire. It has also recently occurred in setaside land in Dorset and Somerset.

 Nit-grass Life Cycle

LIFE CYCLE:

Flowers from May to September. Seed longevity is unknown. Germination is mainly in the autumn, although seedlings can be killed by hard frosts.

REASONS FOR DECLINE:

Nit-grass has declined in arable habitats, probably as a result of increases in the amounts of nitrogen used and the development of competitive crop varieties. It may also be susceptible to grass-weed herbicides. However, it has increased in recent years in set-aside fields.