wheat·grass

W5114700 (wēt′grăs′, hwēt′-)n.1. Any of several grasses, especially of the genera Agropyron and Elymus, grown as pasture and fodder for livestock.2. The young leaves of common wheat, often processed into juice or powder and used as a dietary supplement.

wheatgrass

(ˈwiːtɡrɑːs) n (Cookery) another name for couch grass

Thesaurus

Noun

wheatgrass - a grass of the genus Agropyronwheat-grassgrass - narrow-leaved green herbage: grown as lawns; used as pasture for grazing animals; cut and dried as hayAgropyron, genus Agropyron - perennial grasses of temperate and cool regions: wheatgrass; dog grassAgropyron cristatum, crested wheat grass, crested wheatgrass, fairway crested wheat grass - Eurasian grass grown in United States great plains area for forage and erosion controlAgropyron repens, couch grass, dog grass, quack grass, quackgrass, quick grass, witch grass, witchgrass - European grass spreading rapidly by creeping rhizomes; naturalized in North America as a weedAgropyron subsecundum, bearded wheatgrass - a wheatgrass with straight terminal awns on the flowering glumesAgropyron smithii, bluestem wheatgrass, western wheatgrass - valuable forage grass of western United StatesAgropyron intermedium, Elymus hispidus, intermediate wheatgrass - Asiatic grass introduced into United States rangelands for pasture and fodderAgropyron pauciflorum, Agropyron trachycaulum, Elymus trachycaulos, slender wheatgrass - North American grass cultivated in western United States as excellent forage crop

Wheatgrass

a group of plants of the genus Agropyron of the family Gramineae. There are 13 species in the USSR. It is tall and loosely bushy with a thick, rather filamentous root system. Its inflorescence is spikelike with three to ten flowered sessile spikelets. The fruit is an oblong caryopsis, pilose on top. Wheatgrass is divided according to shape into narrow-spike (Siberian, desert) and broad-spike (pectinate, crested). Wheatgrass is grown in steppes, dry meadows, sands, and rocky slopes. Hardy, drought-resistant, and not demanding of soils, it is widely distributed in the steppes and forest steppes of Eifrasia and North Africa. In the USSR it is found mainly in the Ukraine, the Volga and Ural regions, and Middle Asia. Wheatgrass is a valuable forage plant.

Wheatgrass was first cultivated in Russia in 1900; now four species are sown and tested as crops. Siberian or sandy wheatgrass (A. sibiricum) is best sown in steppe and foreststeppe regions with erratic rainfall on coarse chernozems and chestnut soils. Desert wheatgrass (A. desertum) is best suited for loamy and clayey light chestnut soils and solonets soils. Pectinate or broad-spike wheatgrass (A. pectiniforme) is suitable for the southeastern and eastern regions of the USSR on chestnut and solonets soils. Crested wheatgrass (A. cristatum) grows on stony slopes and dry meadows.

Pectinate wheatgrass is the most valuable species for forage. Its chemical compostion (in percent) is water, 56.6; protein, 5.1; fat, 1.1; cellulose, 15.4; nitrogen-free extractable substances, 18.2; and ash, 3.6. One hundred kilograms of foliage contains 25.5 feed units and 3.8 kg of digestible protein; 100 kg of hay has 48.7 feed units and 6.9 kg of digestible protein. Wheatgrass is eaten by all farm animals. The after-growth of Siberian wheatgrass is good fattening feed.

Wheatgrass is the main component of grass mixtures (wheatgrass plus alfalfa or sainfoin) in field and fodder meadow-pasture crop rotations. In fodder rotations, it is sown in fall or spring under the cover of winter or spring crops. The seeds are planted 2 cm below the surface, at the rate of 12 kg per hectare (ha) in drill seeding. Wheatgrass is generally mowed once a year; the aftergrowth is slight. It is harvested for hay in the ear formation stage. The foliage yield is about 50 centners per ha; hay, 15-30 centners per ha. The yields are highest in the third and fourth years of growth. It remains in crop rotations three to five years. Seeds are obtained from ordinary drilling seeds or special seed plants. The widerow method is used with rows 60 cm apart; the sowing rate is 5-7 kg per ha. The seed plants are harvested with a combine. The average seed yield is 3-4 centners per ha.

REFERENCES

Flora SSSR, vol. 2. Leningrad, 1934.
Kosarev, M. G.Zhitniak. Moscow, 1941.
Shain, S. S., and B. A. Karunin. Zhitniak. Moscow, 1950.
Kormovye rasteniia senokosov i pastbishch SSSR, vol. 1. Moscow-Leningrad, 1950.

N. K. TATARINOVA

wheatgrass

noun

Synonyms for wheatgrass

noun a grass of the genus Agropyron

Synonyms

wheat-grass

Related Words

grass
Agropyron
genus Agropyron
Agropyron cristatum
crested wheat grass
crested wheatgrass
fairway crested wheat grass
Agropyron repens
couch grass
dog grass
quack grass
quackgrass
quick grass
witch grass
witchgrass
Agropyron subsecundum
bearded wheatgrass
Agropyron smithii
bluestem wheatgrass
western wheatgrass
Agropyron intermedium
Elymus hispidus
intermediate wheatgrass
Agropyron pauciflorum
Agropyron trachycaulum
Elymus trachycaulos
slender wheatgrass