2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38
Haretail (lat. Lagurus) - a moisture-loving representative of the Cereals family. The second name of this plant is lagurus.
Description
The haretail is a low-growing annual or biennial cereal - as a rule, its height ranges from ten centimeters to half a meter and almost never exceeds these marks.
The rhizomes of the haretail are branched. Many small adventitious roots extend from the light central root, and all these roots are located exclusively in the upper soil layer. And from the bases of the rhizomes erect and rather long stems originate. They are smooth to the touch, rather thin, and are tinted grayish-yellow. Also, on the surface of these stalks, tiny fluffy villi are clearly visible, giving the hare tail a very unusual look.
The leaves of the haretail are located exclusively along the bottom of the stems, and at the very bases of the bushes they form small rosettes. All leaves are quite flat, thin, elongated and boast a very rich green color. Moreover, in length, such leaves often reach thirty centimeters.
The fluffy panicles of a haretail are usually ovoid, but sometimes they can be almost cylindrical. And the length of its spikelets usually reaches seven to eleven millimeters. You can admire the flowering of this graceful plant for a long time - from March to July.
The haretail caryopses boast a rather interesting fusiform shape, and their size is approximately 3x0.6 mm.
The genus of the haretail includes one and only species - it is the ovate haretail. Such an interesting name of this plant is due to the fact that its inflorescences are outwardly very similar to cute hare tails.
Where grows
The Mediterranean and North American territories are considered the homeland of the haretail, but at present its distribution area is quite extensive: this is Europe, and North Africa, and the Caucasus, and Western Asia. Most often, this handsome man can be seen on coastal sandy soils.
Usage
The haretail is quite actively and very successfully used in ornamental gardening - it is especially decorative during the period of its flowering. And it is for its magnificent fluffy decorative inflorescences, panicles, that it is very highly valued by gardeners!
The haretail is an ideal plant for decorating mixborders, in addition, it is quite actively used when composing stony compositions. But most often this plant is still grown for cutting and for decorating dry winter bouquets.
Growing and caring
The haretail can be safely planted both in sunny areas and in partial shade. Good garden soils will be particularly preferred.
Since the haretail is quite hygrophilous, it is important to provide it with regular and sufficient watering when dry weather is established. Periodic feeding with full complex mineral fertilizers will not be superfluous - they are usually carried out several times throughout the season.
Haretail is a very cold-resistant plant, however, in the conditions of the middle lane, it still will not be able to fully overwinter. In general, this handsome man is very unpretentious in leaving, which also definitely adds to his attractiveness.
Hare tail can be propagated both by planting seeds for seedlings in April, and by planting directly in the ground (it is usually produced in May), while maintaining a distance of ten to fifteen centimeters between plants.
As for all kinds of pests and diseases, the hare tail is very resistant to them.
