List of Minnesota grasses, sedges, and rushes

This is a list of graminoids (grasses, sedges, and rushes) native or introduced to the U.S. state of Minnesota, organized alphabetically by scientific name (genus and species).

A

• Andropogon gerardi (big bluestem; native)
• Andropogon hallii (sand bluestem; introduced from the central United States)
• Agrostis gigantea (black bentgrass; introduced from Eurasia)
• Agrostis hyemalis (winter bentgrass; native)
• Agrostis scabra (rough bentgrass; native)
• Agrostis perennans (upland bentgrass; native)
• Agrostis stolonifera (creeping bentgrass; introduced from Eurasia)

B

• Bouteloua curtipendula (sideoats grama; native)
• Bouteloua dactyloides (buffalograss; native)
• Bouteloua gracilis (blue grama; native)
• Bouteloua hirsuta (hairy grama; native)
• Bromus arvensis (field brome; introduced from Eurasia)
• Bromus catharticus (rescuegrass; introduced from South America)
• Bromus ciliatus (fringed brome; native)
• Bromus inermis (smooth brome; introduced from Eurasia)
• Bromus kalmii (prairie brome, Kalm's brome; native)
• Bromus latiglumis (early-leaved brome; native)
• Bromus pubescens (hairy woodland brome; native)
• Bromus secalinus (rye brome; introduced from Eurasia)
• Bromus tectorum (cheatgrass; introduced from Eurasia)

C

• Calamagrostis canadensis (marsh reedgrass; native)
• Calamagrostis montanensis (plains reedgrass; native)
• Calamagrostis purpurascens (purple reedgrass; native)
• Calamagrostis stricta (slim-stemmed reedgrass; native)
• Calamovilfa longifolia (sand reedgrass; native)
• Carex adusta (lesser brown sedge; native)
• Carex albicans (white-tinged sedge; native)
• Carex albursina (White Bear sedge; native)
• Carex alopecoidea (foxtail sedge; native)
• Carex annectens (yellow-fruited sedge; native)
• Carex aquatilis (water sedge; native)
• Carex arcta (northern cluster sedge; native)
• Carex arctata (drooping woodland sedge; native)
• Carex assiniboinensis (Assiniboia sedge; native)
• Carex atherodes (wheat sedge; native)
• Carex aurea (golden sedge; native)
• Carex bebbii (Bebb's sedge; native)
• Carex bicknellii (Bicknell's sedge; native)
• Carex blanda (common woodland sedge; native)
• Carex brevior (plains oval sedge; native)
• Carex bromoides (brome-like sedge; native)
• Carex brunnescens (brownish sedge; native)
• Carex buxbaumii (Buxbaum's sedge; native)
• Carex canescens (silvery sedge; native)
• Carex capillaris (hair-like sedge; native)
• Carex careyana (Carey's sedge; native)
• Carex castanea (chestnut sedge; native)
• Carex cephaloidea (thin-leaved sedge; native)
• Carex cephalophora (oval-leaved sedge; native)
• Carex chordorrhiza (creeping sedge; native)
• Carex communis (fibrous-rooted sedge; native)
• Carex comosa (long-haired sedge; native)
• Carex conjuncta (soft fox sedge; native)
• Carex conoidea (openfield sedge; native)
• Carex crinita (fringed sedge; native)
• Carex cristatella (crested sedge; native)
• Carex crus-corvi (raven-footed sedge; native)
• Carex cryptolepis (northeastern sedge; native)
• Carex davisii (Davis's sedge; native)
• Carex debilis (white-edged sedge; native)
• Carex deflexa (northern sedge; native)
• Carex deweyana (Dewey sedge; native)
• Carex diandra (lesser panicled sedge; native)
• Carex disperma (soft-leaved sedge; native)
• Carex duriuscula (needle-leaved sedge; native)
• Carex eburnea (ivory sedge; native)
• Carex echinata (star sedge; native)
• Carex echinodes (native)
• Carex emoryi (Emory's sedge; native)
• Carex exilis (coastal sedge; native)
• Carex festucacea (fescue sedge; native)
• Carex filifolia (thread-leaved sedge; native)
• Carex flava (yellow sedge; native)
• Carex foenea (straw sedge; native)
• Carex formosa (handsome sedge; native)
• Carex garberi (elk sedge; native)
• Carex gracillima (graceful sedge; native)
• Carex granularis (limestone meadow sedge; native)
• Carex gravida (heavy sedge; native)
• Carex grayi (common bur sedge, Gray's sedge; native)
• Carex grisea (inflated narrow-leaved sedge; native)
• Carex gynandra (nodding sedge; native)
• Carex gynocrates (northern bog sedge; native)
• Carex hallii (deer sedge; native)
• Carex haydenii (Hayden's sedge; native)
• Carex hirtifolia (pubescent sedge; native)
• Carex hitchcockiana (Hitchcock's sedge; native)
• Carex hookeriana (Hooker's sedge; native)
• Carex houghtoniana (Houghton's sedge; native)
• Carex hystericina (porcupine sedge; native)
• Carex inops (long-stoloned sedge; native)
• Carex interior (inland sedge; native)
• Carex intumescens (greater bladder sedge; native)
• Carex jamesii (James's sedge; native)
• Carex ×knieskernii (native)
• Carex lacustris (lake sedge; native)
• Carex laeviconica (smooth-coned sedge; native)
• Carex laevivaginata (smooth-sheathed sedge; native)
• Carex lasiocarpa (woolly-fruited sedge; native)
• Carex laxiculmis (spreading sedge; native)
• Carex leptalea (bristly-stalked sedge; native)
• Carex leptonervia (nerveless woodland sedge; native)
• Carex limosa (mud sedge; native)
• Carex livida (livid sedge; native)
• Carex lucorum (Blue Ridge sedge; native)
• Carex lupulina (hop sedge; native)
• Carex lurida (shallow sedge; native)
• Carex magellanica (boreal bog sedge; native)
• Carex meadii (Mead's sedge; native)
• Carex merritt-fernaldii (Fernald's sedge; native)
• Carex michauxiana (Michaux's sedge; native)
• Carex molesta (troublesome sedge; native)
• Carex muehlenbergii (Muhlenberg's sedge; native)
• Carex muskingumensis (palm sedge; native)
• Carex normalis (greater straw sedge; native)
• Carex obtusata (obtuse sedge; native)
• Carex oligocarpa (richwoods sedge; native)
• Carex oligosperma (few-seeded sedge; native)
• Carex ormostachya (necklace spike sedge; native)
• Carex pallescens (pale sedge; native)
• Carex pauciflora (few-flowered sedge; native)
• Carex peckii (Peck's sedge; native)
• Carex pedunculata (long-stalked sedge; native)
• Carex pellita (woolly sedge; native)
• Carex pensylvanica (oak sedge, Pennsylvania sedge; native)
• Carex plantaginea (plantain-leaved sedge; native)
• Carex praegracilis (clustered field sedge; native)
• Carex prairea (prairie sedge; native)
• Carex praticola (meadow sedge; native)
• Carex projecta (necklace sedge; native)
• Carex pseudocyperus (cypress-like sedge; native)
• Carex radiata (eastern star sedge; native)
• Carex retrorsa (knot-sheathed sedge; native)
• Carex richardsonii (Richardson's sedge; native)
• Carex rosea (rosy sedge; native)
• Carex rossii (Ross's sedge; native)
• Carex rostrata (beaked sedge; native)
• Carex sartwellii (Sartwell's sedge; native)
• Carex saximontana (Rocky Mountain sedge; native)
• Carex scirpoidea (northern single-spiked sedge; native)
• Carex scoparia (broom sedge; native)
• Carex siccata (dry-spiked sedge; native)
• Carex sparganioides (bur-reed sedge; native)
• Carex squarrosa (squarrose sedge; native)
• Carex sprengelii (long-beaked sedge, Sprengel's sedge; native)
• Carex sterilis (dioecious sedge; native)
• Carex stipata (awl-fruited sedge; native)
• Carex stricta (upright sedge; native)
• Carex suberecta (prairie straw sedge; native)
• Carex supina (weak Arctic sedge; native)
• Carex sychnocephala (many-headed sedge; native)
• Carex tenera (quill sedge; native)
• Carex tetanica (rigid sedge; native)
• Carex tonsa (shaved sedge; native)
• Carex torreyi (Torrey's sedge; native)
• Carex trichocarpa (hairy-fruited sedge; native)
• Carex trisperma (three-seeded sedge; native)
• Carex tuckermanii (Tuckerman's sedge; native)
• Carex typhina (cattail sedge; native)
• Carex umbellata (parasol sedge; native)
• Carex utriculata (Northwest Territory sedge; native)
• Carex vaginata (sheathed sedge; native)
• Carex vesicaria (blister sedge; native)
• Carex viridula (little green sedge; native)
• Carex vulpinoidea (fox sedge; native)
• Carex woodii (pretty sedge; native)
• Carex xerantica (white-scaled sedge; native)
• Cenchrus longispinus (sandbur; native)
• Cinna arundinacea (stout woodreed, sweet woodreed; native)
• Cinna latifolia (drooping woodreed; native)
• Cladium mariscoides (smooth sawgrass; native)
• Cyperus acuminatus (taper-tipped flatsedge; native)
• Cyperus bipartitus (slender flatsedge; native)
• Cyperus diandrus (umbrella flatsedge; native)
• Cyperus erythrorhizos (red-rooted flatsedge; native)
• Cyperus esculentus (yellow nutsedge; native)
• Cyperus fuscus (brown flatsedge; introduced from Eurasia)
• Cyperus houghtonii (Houghton's flatsedge; native)
• Cyperus lupulinus (Great Plains flatsedge; native)
• Cyperus odoratus (fragrant flatsedge; native)
• Cyperus rotundus (nutgrass; native or introduced from Eurasia)
• Cyperus schweinitzii (Schweinitz's flatsedge; native)
• Cyperus squarrosus (bearded flatsedge; native)
• Cyperus strigosus (straw-colored flatsedge; native)

D

• Danthonia spicata (poverty oatgrass; native)
• Dactylis glomerata (orchard grass; introduced from Eurasia)
• Digitaria ischaemum (smooth crabgrass; introduced from Eurasia)
• Digitaria sanguinalis (hairy crabgrass; introduced from Europe)

E

• Elymus canadensis (Canada wild rye; native)
• Elymus hystrix (bottlebrush grass; native)
• Elymus repens (quackgrass; introduced from Eurasia)
• Eragrostis cilianensis (stink grass; introduced from Europe)
• Eragrostis spectabilis (purple lovegrass; native)

H

• Hesperostipa comata (needle-and-thread grass; native)
• Hesperostipa spartea (porcupine grass; native)
• Hordeum jubatum (foxtail barley; native)
• Hordeum pusillum (little barley; native)
• Hordeum vulgare (barley; introduced from Eurasia)

J

• Juncus canadensis (Canada rush; native)
• Juncus tenuis (path rush; native)

K

• Koeleria macrantha (junegrass; native)

L

• Luzula acuminata (hairy woodrush; native)
• Luzula multiflora (common woodrush; native)
• Luzula parviflora (small-flowered woodrush; native)

M

• Muhlenbergia asperifolia (alkali muhly, scratchgrass; native)
• Muhlenbergia cuspidata (plains muhly, prairie satingrass; native)
• Muhlenbergia frondosa (wire-stemmed muhly, common satingrass; native)
• Muhlenbergia glomerata (spiked muhly, marsh muhly; native)
• Muhlenbergia mexicana (Mexican muhly, leafy satingrass, wirestem muhly; native)
• Muhlenbergia racemosa (marsh muhly; native)
• Muhlenbergia richardsonis (mat muhly; native)
• Muhlenbergia schreberi (nimblewill; native)
• Muhlenbergia sylvatica (woodland muhly; native)
• Muhlenbergia uniflora (bog muhly; native)

P

• Panicum capillare (witchgrass; native)
• Panicum dichotomiflorum (fall panicgrass; native)
• Panicum miliaceum (proso millet; introduced from Asia)
• Panicum philadelphicum (Philadelphia panicgrass; native)
• Panicum virgatum (switchgrass; native)
• Paspalum setaceum (thin paspalum; native)
• Phalaris arundinacea (reed canarygrass; native and introduced)

S

• Schizachyrium scoparium (little bluestem; native)
• Sorghastrum nutans (indiangrass; native)
• Spartina pectinata (prairie cordgrass; native)
• Sporobolus compositus (tall dropseed; native)
• Sporobolus cryptandrus (sand dropseed; native)
• Sporobolus heterolepis (prairie dropseed; native)
• Sporobolus neglectus (small dropseed; native)
• Sporobolus vaginiflorus (sheathed dropseed; native)

T

• Triplasis purpurea (sand grass; native)
• Tripsacum dactyloides (gama grass; native)

Z

• Zizania aquatica (wild rice; native)
• Zizania palustris (northern wild rice; native)