In Glasgow the most common grass of agricultural significance, other than cereals grown for eating, is the Perennial Rye Grass. This has shiny green leaves (giving a lush pasture look to grasslands) and a spike (attached directly to the stem) of alternating spikelets (collection of tiny flowers), which give the plant its other name of Tinker-Tailor grass as children would pick the spikelets off one by one to predict what they might be when they grow older. Interestingly this rhyme (Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Sailor etc….) doesn’t include farmer or botanist, which is what they would most likely become by being able to recognise this plant in the first place! This grass can be found in most if not all of the grazed pastures, similar to those grazed by the Highland cattle at Pollok Park, and is the most important agricultural fodder grass.

All grasses are wind pollinated, so the flowers have little value to insects, but if left to grow tall in meadows or road verges then the grasses provide important shelter and food for insects such as grasshoppers and butterflies. Meadow Brown and Ringlet butterflies are both common in Glasgow and have larvae (caterpillars) that feed on tall grasses – meadow brown preferring fine delicate grasses such as Bent grasses, whilst Ringlet prefer the coarser old agricultural grasses such as Cock’s-foot (flower arrangement for this plant gives us its common name). Both these latter grasses can be seen in flower in August, the former being a non-agricultural grass is found in shorter grassland with thinner soils, whilst Cock’s-foot can be found in any tall grassland on deeper soils and is common in unmanaged road verges.