Favoritos de badger_johnson

Rather surprised to find this as I have never noticed it growing here before. The lake was recently drained (not sure if it was partially dredged). It's difficult to say if this sprang up from the seedbank due to the disturbance or if it was intentionally seeded. The lake itself is artificial; it was created 80 years ago when Salt Run was dammed.

Isolated patch in shallow margin of pond. Plants uncharacteristically short (only about 2' tall), but the cup-like bases of the female florets are distinctive. Many of the inflorescences appeared to be comprised mainly of sterile florets (the remaining lemmas all less than 1 mm wide). Strangely, the typical male flowers at the base of the inflorescence appeared to be absent. Many of the pedicels of the female florets were deformed or twisted (note especially the top inflorescence in the main photo). Stems thick, leaves broad (~1cm) and flat with long ligules and sheaths with cilia on the margins. Root system small, short; plants evidently annual.