Yellow Bristle-grass

After yesterday's wind, today we had the rain - more or less persistent until mid afternoon when a rather watery sun appeared, accompanied by more warm, gusty winds. I wasn't inspired to go out, so photographed the rather attractive flower-head of this yellow bristle-grass that Pete found yesterday, growing alongside a cycle-way.

Yellow bristle-grass originates from temperate and subtropical Asia and Europe, and is now established in the UK, though is usually found in small quantity in urban areas. It's more of a problem in other parts of the world and in New Zealand it can cover 20-40% of otherwise productive dairy farming pasture causing a loss in milk production. 

The seeds are relatively large and it was historically and prehistorically cultivated and domesticated in southern India for its starchy grains, eaten cooked or ground into flour and baked into roti. It was also gathered from the wild for food in a much wider area, across tropical Africa and Asia.

The plant photosynthesizes by a more efficient method than most plants. Called the 'C4 carbon-fixation pathway', this process is particularly efficient at high temperatures, in bright sunlight and under dry conditions. It should have done well this year!