Apera spica-venti seed

LATIN NAME: APERA SPICA-VENTI

COMMON NAME: Slender Wind-grass

The slender wind-grass quivers the annual grass with the fine, narrow, bright-green leaves and the loose, airy, branched panicles that quiver in the summer breeze, the tiny, pale spikelets each carrying the small, pointed seed, the plant rising to the knee in the open, weedy ground. It grows quickly into the upright, feathery form, and it stands the cool, changeable weather well. It likes the sun, and the light, well-drained soil.

Scientific Research & Plant Biotechnology

The slender wind-grass is a mainstay of the field studies on the arable weeds and the herbicide-response lines, and the spica-venti species appears in the work on the wind-dispersed panicle grasses. The research looks at the way the loose panicles shed the light seeds on the breeze, the dormancy cycles, and the seed biology. The agronomists keep the arable-habitat value in view, and the growers of the wildflower and meadow mixes list the grass in their catalogues.

Ecological & Economic Value & Wide Applications

In the summer border of the wild meadow, the slender wind-grass holds the shimmering, feathery panicles above the low herbs. The light seeds drift on the wind, the tufts shelter the ground insects, and the grass makes the fine meadow mix, the dried-flower grass and the soil cover. It settles into the light, open, well-drained ground. Panicle-quivered, wind-sown and meadow-born.

To grow the Slender Wind-grass from seed, broadcast the seeds over a tray of gritty compost.

Broadcast the seeds over a tray of gritty compost, and keep the young plants in the open, sunny spot. The quivering panicles come with the summer. , pressing them in lightly, keep the tray lightly watered, and the young tufts rise as the warmth returns. The quivering panicles come with the summer.