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National Invasive Species Information Center
U.S. Department of Agriculture
  1. Home
  2. Terrestrial Invasives
  3. Terrestrial Plants
  4. Quackgrass

Quackgrass

Scientific Name

Elymus repens (L.) Gould subsp. repens (ITIS)

Common Name

Quackgrass, medusa's head, Quackgrass rye, Quackgrass grass

Synonym

Agropyron firmum J. Presl, Agropyron repens (L.) P. Beauv., Elytrigia repens (L.) Desv. ex Nevski, Triticum firmum (J. Presl) Link, Triticum repens L. (GRIN)

Native To

Eurasia (Klein 2011)

Date of U.S. Introduction

1600s (Klein 2011)

Means of Introduction

Accidental, probably as a seed contaminant (Klein 2011; Werner and Rioux 1977)

Impact

Crowds out native species and cultivated crops (Klein 2011)

Quackgrass

Quackgrass, plants in Alaska

Credit

Photo by Elizabeth Bella; USDA, Forest Service

Source
Invasive.org.

Find more images

Distribution / Maps / Survey Status

Videos

All Resources

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Selected Resources

The section below contains highly relevant resources for this species, organized by source.

Partnership
Federal Government
International Government

  • Quackgrass

    • Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food, and Rural Affairs (Canada).

State and Local Government
Academic
Citations