Sweet grasses

Hierochloë sp.

It is not easy to identify a sweet grass unless one knows where it grows. The scent of the grass becomes clear when one rubs it in ones hands. In the evening, one can sometimes sense the sweet smell of the grass in the air.

The sweet grasses are perennial grasses, the inflorescence of which is an open panicle. They grow up to half a metre in height, and their sparse spikelets are brown and roundish. The grasses can spread effectively by producing underground runners. Sweet grasses thrive in meadows and on shores. Their fragrant odour comes from oil that contains coumarin and is strongest in dried sweet grasses.