Bunched, weedy annual from 4-20 inches tall introduced from Europe. The erect, or more often leaning, flower stems are sharply bent and branched at the base (C). Narrow leaf blades are 2-8 inches long and less than 1/4 inch wide, often with a tuft of long hairs at the base where they join the sheath (D). The flower cluster is a dense 1-5 inch distinctive grayish-green panicle bearing many conspicuous spikelets (A,B). Each spikelet consists of 9-24 florets borne on a short pedicle (E,F).
Waste areas, roadsides, lawns, fields. Stinkgrass is rare along Hidden Lake Trail at Fontenelle Forest. At Neale Woods it is uncommon along the edges of both parking lots. Flowering occurs from July to October.
Tiny resinous glands on the stems, leaf margins, glumes and lemmas are responsible for the disagreeable odor given off by the green plant when crushed.
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