Tall Oatgrass

Foodplant / miner
larva of Agromyza nigrociliata mines leaf of Arrhenatherum elatius

Foodplant / miner
solitary larva of Agromyza rondensis mines leaf of Arrhenatherum elatius

Foodplant / saprobe
apothecium of Albotricha acutipila is saprobic on dead stem of Arrhenatherum elatius
Remarks: season: 4-8

Foodplant / saprobe
apothecium of Albotricha albotestacea is saprobic on dead stem of Arrhenatherum elatius
Remarks: season: 2-8

In Great Britain and/or Ireland:
Foodplant / saprobe
colony of Arthrinium dematiaceous anamorph of Arthrinium phaeospermum is saprobic on dead stem of Arrhenatherum elatius
Remarks: season: esp. 7-8

Foodplant / spot causer
gregarious, with smoky-brown pore pycnidium of Ascochyta coelomycetous anamorph of Ascochyta graminicola causes spots on fading leaf of Arrhenatherum elatius
Remarks: season: late summer

Foodplant / saprobe
sessile apothecium of Bisporella scolochloae is saprobic on dead, on ground stem of Arrhenatherum elatius
Remarks: season: 7-8
Other: major host/prey

Foodplant / parasite
Blumeria graminis parasitises live Arrhenatherum elatius

Foodplant / internal feeder
larva of Calameuta filiformis feeds within stem of Arrhenatherum elatius

Plant / resting place / within
puparium of Chromatomyia nigra may be found in leaf-mine of Arrhenatherum elatius

Foodplant / gall
stroma of Epichlo causes gall of stem of Arrhenatherum elatius

Foodplant / pathogen
immersed, mycelial matted perithecium of Gaeumannomyces graminis infects and damages dead leaf sheath (lower part) of Arrhenatherum elatius
Remarks: season: 3-10

Foodplant / pathogen
Fusarium anamorph of Gibberella zeae infects and damages spikelet of Arrhenatherum elatius
Other: major host/prey

Foodplant / saprobe
stalked apothecium of Hymenoscyphus scutula is saprobic on dead stem of Arrhenatherum elatius
Remarks: season: 10-1

Foodplant / saprobe
apothecium of Lachnum carneolum var. longisporum is saprobic on dead leaf of Arrhenatherum elatius
Remarks: season: (2-)6-8(-10)

Foodplant / saprobe
stalked apothecium of Lachnum palearum var. palearum is saprobic on dead stem of Arrhenatherum elatius
Remarks: season: 3-8

Foodplant / saprobe
apothecium of Lachnum tenuissimum is saprobic on dead stem of Arrhenatherum elatius
Remarks: season: 5-8

Foodplant / saprobe
thyriothecium of Lichenopeltella alpestris is saprobic on dead stem of Arrhenatherum elatius
Remarks: season: 4-11

Foodplant / pathogen
pycnidium of Dilophospora coelomycetous anamorph of Lidophia graminis infects and damages live inflorescence of Arrhenatherum elatius
Remarks: season: 5-10, esp. 7

Plant / resting place / on
puparium of Liriomyza phryne may be found on leaf of Arrhenatherum elatius
Other: major host/prey

Foodplant / miner
larva of Liriomyza pusio mines leaf of Arrhenatherum elatius
Other: sole host/prey

Foodplant / saprobe
erumpent apothecium of Lophodermium culmigenum is saprobic on dead stem of Arrhenatherum elatius
Remarks: season: 3-8
Other: major host/prey

Foodplant / saprobe
effuse colony of Tetraploa dematiaceous anamorph of Massarina tetraploa is saprobic on Arrhenatherum elatius
Remarks: season: 1-12
Other: major host/prey

Foodplant / saprobe
sessile apothecium of Mollisia palustris is saprobic on dead stem of Arrhenatherum elatius
Remarks: season: 3-9

Foodplant / saprobe
colony of Cercosporidium dematiaceous anamorph of Mycosphaerella recutita is saprobic on dead leaf of Arrhenatherum elatius

Foodplant / saprobe
immersed pycnidial anamorph of Ophiosphaerella herpotricha is saprobic on stem internode (basal) of Arrhenatherum elatius
Remarks: season: 3-7
Other: minor host/prey

Foodplant / saprobe
effuse colony of Periconia dematiaceous anamorph of Periconia minutissima is saprobic on dead leaf of Arrhenatherum elatius
Remarks: season: 1-12

Foodplant / saprobe
scattered, initially immersed pseudothecium of Phaeosphaeria fuckelii is saprobic on dead stem of Arrhenatherum elatius
Remarks: season: spring, summer

Foodplant / saprobe
scattered, initially immersed pycnidium of Septoria anamorph of Phaeosphaeria nodorum is saprobic on dead stem (esp node) of Arrhenatherum elatius
Remarks: season: spring, summer

Foodplant / saprobe
pycnidium of Hendersonia coelomycetous anamorph of Phaeosphaeria vagans is saprobic on dead stem of Arrhenatherum elatius

Foodplant / saprobe
perithecium of Phomatospora dinemasporium is saprobic on dead sheath of Arrhenatherum elatius
Remarks: season: 6-7

Foodplant / saprobe
immersed pseudothecium of Pleospora phaeocomoides is saprobic on dead stem of Arrhenatherum elatius
Remarks: season: 2-10

Foodplant / spot causer
immersed, crowded or in rows pycnidium of Pseudoseptoria coelomycetous anamorph of Pseudoseptoria donacis causes spots on sheath of Arrhenatherum elatius
Remarks: season: 5-7

Foodplant / saprobe
apothecium of Psilachnum acutum is saprobic on dead leaf of Arrhenatherum elatius
Remarks: season: 8-10
Other: major host/prey

Foodplant / saprobe
apothecium of Psilachnum eburneum is saprobic on dead leaf of Arrhenatherum elatius
Remarks: season: 4-9

Foodplant / parasite
hypophyllous telium of Puccinia coronata parasitises live leaf of Arrhenatherum elatius
Remarks: season: mid 8-

Foodplant / parasite
amphigenous uredium of Puccinia graminis f.sp. avenae parasitises live leaf of Arrhenatherum elatius

Foodplant / spot causer
amphigenous, numerous, black pycnidium of Septoria coelomycetous anamorph of Septoria bromi var. arrhenatheri causes spots on leaf of Arrhenatherum elatius

Foodplant / feeds on
scattered or gregarious, immersed, pallid brown pycnidium of Stagonospora coelomycetous anamorph of Stagonospora arrhenatheri feeds on culm of Arrhenatherum elatius
Remarks: season: 8

Foodplant / saprobe
effuse colony of Helicosporium anamorph of Tubeufia paludosa is saprobic on dead leaf of Arrhenatherum elatius
Remarks: season: 3-11

Foodplant / saprobe
fruitbody of Typhula culmigena is saprobic on dead, decayed leaf of Arrhenatherum elatius

Foodplant / spot causer
long, linear, erumpent sorus of Urocystis agropyri causes spots on live, blistered, ribboned leaf of Arrhenatherum elatius

Foodplant / parasite
embedded sorus of Urocystis avenae-elatioris parasitises live leaf of Arrhenatherum elatius
Other: sole host/prey

Foodplant / pathogen
sorus of Ustilago avenae infects and damages live ovary of Arrhenatherum elatius
Remarks: season: early 6+
Other: major host/prey

Foodplant / spot causer
long, linear, erumpent sorus of Ustilago striiformis causes spots on live, blistered, ribboned leaf of Arrhenatherum elatius

Foodplant / parasite
embedded sorus of Ustilentyloma brefeldii parasitises live leaf of Arrhenatherum elatius

Culms erect or geniculate at base, rather stout, 1–1.5 m tall, 4–5-noded. Leaf sheaths loose, glabrous; leaf blades 14–30 cm, 3–9 mm wide, scabrid or abaxial surface smooth, apex acuminate; ligule 1–3 mm, obtuse or truncate. Panicle lanceolate to oblong in outline, loose to rather dense, 10–25 cm, greenish or purplish, shining; branches clustered,scabrid. Spikelets oblong, 7–9 mm, florets separated by short rachilla internode not more than 0.6 mm; glumes lanceolate, apex acute; lower glume 4–6 mm, upper glume equal to spikelet, punctiform scabrid; lemmas oblong-lanceolate, 7–9 mm, sparsely pubescent in lower 1/3 or glabrous, scabrid in upper 1/3; awn of lower lemma 1–2 cm, arising from lower 1/3 of lemma back; awn of upper lemma 1–2 mm, arising above middle or near apex. Anthers 4–5 mm. 2n = 28.

Introduced to China as an ornamental garden plant and for forage [native to Russia; N Africa, SW Asia, Europe; introduced to Australia and North America].

Arrhenatherum elatius (L.) Presl, Fl. Cech. 17. 1819
.4fe«a cZad'or L.Sp. PI. 79. 1753. Europe.
Holcus avenaceus Scop. Fl. Cam. ed. 2. 2: 276. 1772. (Based on Avena elatior L.)
Aj/ena etoo Salisb. Prodr. 23. 1796. (Based on /I . ria/tor L.) Not A. e/o(a Forsk. 1775.
Arrhenatherum avenaceum Beauv. Agrost. 55, 152, 164. pi. 11, f. 5. 1812. (Based on Holcus
avenaceus Scop.) Arrhenatherum americanum Beauv. Agrost. 56, 152, name only. 1812.
Short-lived perennial; culms in small clumps, erect, glossy, 1-1.5 meters tall; sheaths rather loose; ligule membranaceous, about 2 mm. long; blades flat, scabrous, 10-25 cm. long, 5-10 mm. wide ; panicle pale or purplish, shining, 1 5-30 cm. long, the short branches verticillate, spreading in anthesis, usually spikelet-bearing from the base; spikelets 7-9 mm. long; glumes scaberulous, shining, the first about two thirds as long as the spikelet, the second nearly as long; lemmas scabrous, 7-9 mm. long, bearded on the callus, the awn of the staminate floret about twice as long as its lemma, the awn of the perfect floret from minute to 4 mm. long; paleas hyaline, acuminate, slightly shorter than their lemmas.
Type locality: Europe.
Distribution: Meadows, open ground, and waste places, Newfoundland to British Columbia, and southward to Georgia, Tennessee, Iowa, Idaho, and California; frequent in the Northern and Eastern States; introduced from Europe and escaped from cultivation.

Perennials, Terrestrial, not aquatic, Rhizomes present, Stems nodes swollen or brittle, Stems erect or ascending, Stems geniculate, decumbent, or lax, sometimes rooting at nodes, Stems caespitose, tufted, or clustered, Stems terete, round in cross section, or polygonal, Stem internodes hollow, Stems with inflorescence less than 1 m tall, Stems with inflorescence 1-2 m tall, Stems, culms, or scapes exceeding basal leaves, Leaves mostly cauline, Leaves conspicuously 2-ranked, distichous, Leaves sheathing at base, Leaf sheath mostly open, or loose, Leaf sheath smooth, glabrous, Leaf sheath and blade differentiated, Leaf blades linear, Leaf blades 2-10 mm wide, Leaf blades mostly flat, Leaf blades mostly glabrous, Leaf blades scabrous, roughened, or wrinkled, Ligule present, Ligule an unfringed eciliate membrane, Inflorescence terminal, Inflorescence an open panicle, openly paniculate, branches spreading, Inflorescence a contracted panicle, narrowly paniculate, branches appressed or ascending, Inflorescence solitary, with 1 spike, fascicle, glomerule , head, or cluster per stem or culm, Inflorescence branches more than 10 to numerous, Flowers bisexual, Flowers unisexual, Spikelets laterally compressed, Spikelet less than 3 mm wide, Spikelets with 2 florets, Spikelet with one perfect floret and one staminate floret, Spikelets solitary at rachis nodes, Spikelets in paired units, 1 sessile, 1 pedicellate, Spikelets bisexual, Spikelets disarticulating above the glumes, glumes persistent, Rachilla or pedicel hairy, Glumes present, empty bracts, Glumes 2 clearly present, Glumes distinctly unequal, Glumes equal to or longer than adjacent lemma, Glume equal to or longer than spikelet, Glumes 1 nerved, Glumes 3 nerved, Lemma coriaceous, firmer or thicker in texture than the glumes, Lemma 5-7 nerved, Lemma body or surface hairy, Lemma apex acute or acuminate, Lemma distinctly awned, more than 2-3 mm, Lemma with 1 awn, Lemma awn less than 1 cm long, Lemma awn 1-2 cm long, Lemma awn subapical or dorsal, Lemma awns straight or curved to base, Lemma awn once geniculate, bent once, Lemma margins thin, lying flat, Lemma straight, Palea present, well developed, Palea membranous, hyaline, Palea about equal to lemma, Palea 2 nerved or 2 keeled, Stamens 3, Styles 2-fid, deeply 2-branched, Stigmas 2, Fruit - caryopsis.

Arrhenatherum elatius is a species of flowering plant in the grass family Poaceae, commonly known as bulbous oat grass, false oat-grass, tall oat-grass, tall meadow oat, onion couch and tuber oat-grass. It is native to Europe, western Asia, and northern Africa. This bunchgrass is often used as an ornamental grass and is sometimes marketed as "cat grass".

It is native to Europe but can be found elsewhere as an introduced species. It is found especially in prairies, at the side of roads and in uncultivated fields. The bulbous subspecies can be a weed of arable land. It is palatable grass for livestock and is used both as forage (pasture) and fodder (hay and silage).