ATISHOOOOO........

Two sunny days here have brought the grass pollen levels up dramatically. This morning it seems to be the turn of the cocksfoot grass (dactylis glomerata) to come into flower (yes, grasses DO flower, see below). A puff of wind rippling a hayfield I was passing today showed pollen drifting from the patches of cocksfoot like a light cloud of smoke. Hay fever sufferers beware!

This distinctive, tall grass (one of the easiest of all the grasses to recognise), much more cultivated by farmers previously than now, was introduced to Britain in the late 1700s from North America. It has lost favour recently as a forage crop with the introduction of many species of ryegrass which are considered more suitable for making sileage. Cocksfoot, nevertheless, is a strong, deep rooted grass which does very well in drought prone soils or in low rainfall areas, and produces very rapid re-growth after mowing

.