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Holcus lanatus
Also called Common Velvetgrass, Velvet Grass, Fog Grass, Soft Meadow Grass, Meadow Softgrass, Velvetgrass, Woolly Softgrass
Yorkshire-fog is a hardy, velvety grey-green perennial grass that colonises disturbed ground and damp areas. It thrives in moist soil and spreads quickly by runners, so it is often grown as a pasture or wildflower-meadow grass rather than a garden plant.
Holcus lanatus is a perennial flowering plant in the grass family Poaceae. The specific epithet lanatus is Latin for 'woolly' which describes the plant's hairy texture. Common names include Yorkshire fog, tufted grass, and meadow soft grass. In North America, where it is an invasive species, names include velvet grass and common velvet grass.
In parts of northern Europe the grass is a common native species and a hardy pasture grass.
Holcus lanatus in its natural habitat is a food source for butterflies such as the speckled wood, the wall, and especially the small skipper. It is rarely utilized by the Essex skipper. In its native range it may occur in plant associations such as the Juncus subnodulosus–Cirsium palustre fen-meadow habitat.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Holcus lanatus 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.
