I think I see blooms in the St. Augustine grass. Is that what you're talking about? Since it is grass the blooms don't look like what you'd think a flower would look like and they are sort of stiff. Other than that the only thing I can make out looks like some dead grass stems laying over.

Here is a link that might be useful: St. Augustine grass blooms

This post was edited by roselee on Fri, Jul 11, 14 at 15:41

No, I'm sorry I'm going to post a better picture. Think of something that looks like a long piece of st.augustine but thick and plump like a succulent, and covered in thorns. Is that what st.augustine looks like when it's grown up?! Surely not. Mutant cactus grass?

It looks to me like a plant that's commonly called "aspargus fern". It's neither a fern nor asparagus, but a plant of the sprengeri family. There are several types. The foxtail fern is a member, I think.

Yes, it's kind of stickery, but it's a good draping plant for a raised bed or hanging baskets. I grow a lot of it. It has the white flowers you see now, and later has red berries, but doesn't look too good with the St. Augustine grass mixed in with it. Not sure how to get it out of the lawn. Maybe someone will have some ideas on how to accomplish that.

The foxtail variety is A. sperengii 'meyersi.' I'm gonna go out on a limb and guess it produces berries. They have germinated and now you have the common sperengii growing in your lawn.

Hi texasmom--do you mean the long cylindrical stalk dead center in your most recent photo? If so, as roselee mentioned, that is the seed head for St. Augustine grass. Are the stickers you mentioned the four light colored objects on the left side of the cylinder in your photo? Those are the seeds. Just clip the seed stalk off of the grass mixed in with your foxtail fern and mow the seed stalks off when you mow your lawn. Your grass has just gotten too high and has decided to produce seed. No worries.

Ok, well there is def something within the fern that has cactus prickles in it. When I fetched a ball out of there for my youngster, I got thorns in my hand. I guess I'll just dig it up. Start fresh.

The fern itself has little thorns, as Roselee mentioned. If you are curious, find one of the "cactus" stalks in your yard and see if it isn't attached to one of the St. Augustine runners. The seed heads may feel dry or slightly prickly but not like thorns. If you are going to dig up your fern, try it in a hanging basket. It should keep it out of the way of future stray balls:)