Quackgrass | Nebraska Invasive Species Council

Credit: Steve Dewey, Utah State University, Bugwood.org

General Information

Species Name: Elymus repens

Also Known As: couchgrass, doggrass

Family: Poaceae (Grass)

Growth Form: Grass

Life Span: Perennial

Season: Cool

Origin: Eurasia

Toxic: No

Noxious: No

Why Is It Invasive?

Quackgrass is highly competitive, creating problems in both urban and rural environments as it invades agricultural fields and gardens. It spreads quickly forming dense stands, reducing crop yields and displacing native and desirable vegetation.

What Does It Look Like?

General Description

Quackgrass can grow up to 4 feet high, but is often only a few inches tall in lawns and urban environments.

Flowers

Spikelets grow in clustered, slender, upward reaching groups. Spikelets can be compact or loose. They appear somewhat like the heads of wheat and are green when young and then mature to purple or tan.

Leaves

Leaves are long, narrow, and smooth without hairs or sparsely hairy. Leaves have an auricle (claw-like appendage that wraps around the stem at the base of the leaf).

Stems

Stems are upright and can reach up to 4 feet in length.

Seeds

Seeds are contained in spikelets. Each stem can produce nearly 50 seeds.

Photos

Quackgrass stems and leaves grow amid dry straw in a natural setting.

Credit: Ohio State Weed Lab , The Ohio State University, Bugwood.org

Tall green quackgrass in focus against a blurred blue sky background.

Credit: Steve Dewey, Utah State University, Bugwood.org

Green quackgrass stem and leaves against a clear blue sky, with visible hairs on the stem.

Credit: Ohio State Weed Lab , The Ohio State University, Bugwood.org

Dense green quackgrass growing in a field.

Credit: Elizabeth Bella, AECOM, Bugwood.org

Close-up of a quackgrass stem with two curved leaves against a blue sky.

Credit: Steve Dewey, Utah State University, Bugwood.org

Two dried quackgrass seeds on a blue surface, next to a ruler for scale.

Credit: Bruce Ackley, The Ohio State University, Bugwood.org

Green farmland with scattered crops crowded by quackgrass under a blue sky with clouds.

Credit: Doug Doohan, Ohio State University/ OARDC, Bugwood.org

Where Does It Grow?

Quackgrass grows in both urban and rural environments. It can invade gardens, lawns, and crop fields. It thrives in disturbed sites and can tolerate partial shade to full sun.

How Does It Spread?

Quackgrass can reproduce by seed but mostly reproduces via creeping rhizomes, which have been known to penetrate hard soils and grow into the tubers of other plants. Rhizomes can spread up to 5 feet away from the plant and small fragments can produce entire new plants.

How Do I Control It?

Mechanical

Hand removal is possible, but difficult due to extensive rhizome establishment. Tilling can control quackgrass if repeated from late summer until freezing temperatures. If not repeated until freezing temperatures, tilling may accidentally spread rhizomes.

Please contact your county weed control authority to determine appropriate removal methods.

Cultural

Prevent quackgrass establishment by minimizing disturbance and maintain a healthy native plant community. Grazing by livestock can help manage infestations as it is considered high quality forage.

One way that invasive plant seeds and fragments can spread is in soil. Sometimes plants are planted purposefully. You can prevent the spread of invasive plants.

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