Maya 3D: grass

Today, I was working on realistic grass using "Extrusion" along the curve.

I started with a NURB Circle which I flattened and shaped to resemble cross section of a blade of grass. I extruded along a curve and resized the upper tip to 0.05 - I did not want a sharp point.
Then I resized the bottom of the grass to be a little smaller that the middle.
I applied a file texture with a magnified picture of actual grass.
After I had a single blade I duplicated it adjusting the curve shape each time a little to form a clump of grass blades.

Once I had a clump I duplicated it to have a lawn, each time adjusting what I copy so I don't have a tell-tale pattern.