Cocksfoot is a common introduced pasture grass native to northern Africa, Europe, western Asia, Mongolia, Pakistan and northern India. Cocksfoot is a tufted perennial grass. The leaves of cocksfoot are very distinctive, being folded lengthwise near the base of the plant. Leaves are greyish to bluish green in colour and hairless. between 10 and 80 cm long. The seed head is a dense and spike-like in appearance when it first emerges before becoming open and branched. The name Cocksfoot refers to the seed head appearance which is shaped like a chickens foot.

Cocksfoot (Dactylis glomerata) is regarded as an environmental weed in southeastern Australia. Grown as a pasture grass, this species can spread into disturbed sites and native vegetation able to forms dense swards that suppress native grasses and forbs.

Photo courtesy of Neil Tucker.