Flote Grass - Glyceria fluitans
Family - Poaceae
Also known as - Floating Sweet Grass, Manna grass

Flote Grass - Glyceria fluitans, click for a larger image, photo licensed for reuse CCASA2.5
Photo ©2004 James K. Lindsey
Click photo for a larger image

An aquatic grass found in slow flowing and shallow still waters, marshy ground, ditches, river banks, it can be locally common, it is native to Europe and Western Asia but can be found almost world wide.  Broad green leaves float on the water surface.  It has a creeping rhizomatous rootstock and thick vertical stems growing to 0.8–1.2m (31–47in).  The leaves are long, narrow and pale green, rough on both sides.  When growing close to water the leaves often float on the water surface, in early spring the floating leaves is often all that is visible of the plant.

Emerging flowers form an array (panicle) of long narrow spikelets 15–35mm (0.6–1.4in) long during May to August.  Lemmas with white tips can give a stripy appearance.  The inflorescences are mostly single or paired.

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