i picked this prairie grass stem on my walk today, mostly because the zippered seed head caught my eye. however, part of the mission of  STILL blog is not just to display, but to identify, the flora and fauna that appear each day. so when i got home, i sat down at my iMac and got to work. i knew it was one of the many tall stem prairie grasses, but i didn’t know which one. i searched every reference i could think of…indian grass, bluestem grass, switchgrass, bottle grass, timothy grass. after many dead ends, i finally landed on foxtail barley grass. i am pretty sure that is what i have here. but i’m not entirely certain, because, as vast as the internet visual library is, it seems photographers have only wanted to photograph this plant (backlit) in its full feathery late summer glory. (google it. you’ll see.)  so, i feel as though i am performing a minor civic duty by posting to the internet a foxtail barley grass seed head before it opens. internet, you’re welcome.

foxtail barley prairie grass

rice creek, saint paul, minnesota