Reed Sweet-grass - Glyceria maxima

Click here to support NatureSpot by making a donation - small or large - your gift is very much appreciated. Thank you.
Description

Tall (60 to 200 cm) very erect grass forming dense stands. Leaves flat and more or less folded to 2 cm wide. Inflorescences are erect, dense, much branched spreading panicles 15 to 30 cm long. Spikelets are 5 to 8 mm, narrow oval (not cylindrical).

Identification difficulty
Habitat

By rivers streams and wet ditches.

When to see it

July and August.

Life History

Perennial.

UK Status

Fairly frequent in England quite localised elsewhere in Britain.

VC55 Status

Fairly frequent in Leicestershire and Rutland. In the 1979 Flora survey of Leicestershire it was found in 212 of the 617 tetrads.

  • Graham Calow
    Sapcote
    18 August 2008
  • Graham Calow
    Riverside, Witherley
    15 July 2015
  • David Nicholls
    Launde Fish Ponds
    22 September 2012
  • Graham Calow
    Sapcote
    18 August 2008
  • HAPeacock
    River Soar - St Marys Mill
    12 July 2012
  • David Nicholls
    Shackerstone
    15 September 2012
  • Graham Calow
    Frolesworth
    23 July 2015
    var. variegata
  • Graham Calow
    Frolesworth
    23 July 2015
    var. variegata

Leicestershire & Rutland Map

MAP KEY:

Yellow squares = NBN records (all known data)
Coloured circles = NatureSpot records: 2025+ | 2020-2024 | pre-2020

UK Map

Species data profile ?

Species profile

Common names
Reed Sweet-grass, Great Water Grass
Species group:
Grasses, Rushes & Sedges
Kingdom:
Plantae
Order:
Poales
Family:
Poaceae
Records on NatureSpot:
73
First record:
27/05/2000 (MBNHS;Steve Woodward)
Last record:
24/08/2023 (O'Brien, Helen)

Total records by month

% of records within its species group

10km squares with records

The latest images and records displayed below include those awaiting verification checks so we cannot guarantee that every identification is correct. Once accepted, the record displays a green tick.

In the Latest Records section, click on the header to sort A-Z, and again to sort Z-A. Use the header boxes to filter the list.

Latest images

Latest records

  • Graham Calow
    Croft Pasture
    14 July 2014
  • David Nicholls
    Launde Fish Ponds
    22 September 2012
  • Graham Calow
    Near Abbott Drive, Stoney Stanton
    23 June 2016
  • Graham Calow
    Near Abbott Drive, Stoney Stanton
    23 June 2016
  • Graham Calow
    Near Abbott Drive, Stoney Stanton
    23 June 2016