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Elymus repens
Also called Couchgrass, Creeping Wildrye, Quack Grass, Common Couch, Couch, Couch Wheat Grass, Dog Grass
Quackgrass (Elymus repens) is a very common, aggressive perennial grass native to Europe, Asia, the Arctic and northwest Africa, spreading by creeping rhizomes. It is often treated as a weed and is grown mainly for forage or erosion control.
Elymus repens, commonly known as couch grass , is a very common perennial species of grass native to most of Europe, Asia, the Arctic, and northwest Africa. It has been brought into other mild northern climates for forage or erosion control, but it often becomes invasive in the area.
Elymus repens isn't just called common couch, it's also known as twitch, quick grass, quitch grass (also just quitch), dog grass, quackgrass, scutch grass, and witchgrass.
The foliage is an important forage grass for many grazing mammals. The seeds are eaten by several species of grassland birds, particularly buntings and finches. The caterpillars of some Lepidoptera use it as a foodplant, e.g. the Essex skipper (Thymelicus lineola).
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Elymus repens by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
