Interesting Facts
Description
Genus Agrostis
Annuals
or perennials
, tufted
or sometimes with rhizomes or stolons. Leaf blades
linear
to filiform
or setaceous
, flat or rolled; ligule membranous. Inflorescence a panicle, open to contracted
or spikelike. Spikelets
with 1 floret, small, often gaping
, without rachilla extension
; rachilla disarticulating above glumes
; glumes persistent
, longer
than floret, subequal
or lower a little longer, membranous, 1-veined, apex subacute
to acuminate; floret callus glabrous
or shortly pilose
; lemma oblong
to elliptic
, thinner than glumes, often hyaline
, 5-veined, rounded
on back, glabrous or hairy
, lateral
veins sometimes excurrent, awnless or awned
from back, apex truncate
or toothed
; awn
usually geniculate
, sometimes weakly so or straight when short; palea shorter than lemma, sometimes very small. Stamens 3. Caryopsis oblong, sulcate
on ventral side.
About 200 species:temperate and cold regions of the N hemisphere, also on tropical
mountains; 25 species (eight endemic) in China.
The genus includes some good fodder
and lawn plants
.
Some species are superficially very similar, and correct identification depends on careful observation of spikelet details. It is also important to collect the basal parts to show the presence or absence of rhizomes and stolons. When the palea is long it is normally obvious, but small paleas usually adhere to the mature
caryopsis and may appear to be absent. The presence or absence of awns is useful for identification, but awned species may have awnless variants
, and vice versa, and the position of the awn on the lemma back can also be rather variable.[1]
Taxonomy
- Domain:
Eukaryota
(
)
- Whittaker & Margulis,1978
- eukaryotes
- Kingdom:
Plantae
()
- Haeckel, 1866
- Plants
- Subkingdom:
Viridaeplantae
()
- Cavalier-Smith, 1981
- Phylum:
Tracheophyta
()
- Sinnott, 1935 ex Cavalier-Smith, 1998
- Vascular Plants
- Subphylum:
Euphyllophytina
()
- (Auct.) Cavalier-Smith, 1998
- Infraphylum:
Angiospermae
()
- Auct.
- Class:
Spermatopsida
()
- Brongniart, 1843
- Subclass:
Commelinidae
()
- Takhtajan, 1967
- Superorder:
Juncanae
()
- Takhtajan, 1967
- Order:
Poales
()
- Small, 1903
- Family:
Gramineae
()
- A.L. de Jussieu, 1789, nom. cons., nom. alt.
- Subfamily:
Pooideae
()
- Tribe:
Aveneae
()
- Subtribe:
Alopecuridinae
()
- Genus:
Agrostis
()
- C. Linnaeus, 1753
- Bentgrass
- Specific epithet:
calycina
- Willd. ex Steud.
- Botanical name: - Agrostis calycina Willd. ex Steud.
- Specific epithet:
calycina
- Willd. ex Steud.
- Genus:
Agrostis
(
- Subtribe:
Alopecuridinae
(
- Tribe:
Aveneae
(
- Subfamily:
Pooideae
(
- Family:
Gramineae
(
- Order:
Poales
(
- Superorder:
Juncanae
(
- Subclass:
Commelinidae
(
- Class:
Spermatopsida
(
- Infraphylum:
Angiospermae
(
- Subphylum:
Euphyllophytina
(
- Phylum:
Tracheophyta
(
- Subkingdom:
Viridaeplantae
(
- Kingdom:
Plantae
(
Notes
Publishing author : Willd. ex Steud. Publication : Nomencl. Bot. [Steudel], ed. 2. i. 39; ii. 530
Similar Species
Members of the genus Agrostis
ZipcodeZoo has pages for 51 species, subspecies, varieties, forms, and cultivars in this genus:
A. aequivalvis (Arctic Bentgrass) · A. alascana (Alaska Bentgrass) · A. alba var. major (Black Bent) · A. avenacea (Pacific Bentgrass) · A. blasdalei (Blasdale Bentgrass) · A. blasdalei var. blasdalei (Blasdale Bentgrass) · A. canina (Brown Bentgrass) · A. canina canina (Velvet Bent Grass) · A. capillaris (Brown-Top Bent) · A. capillaris var. aristata (Colonial Bent) · A. capillaris 'Jorvik' (Common Bent 'jorvik') · A. castellana (Bentgrass) · A. clavata (Clavate Bentgrass) · A. clivicola (Coastal Bluff Bentgrass) · A. clivicola var. clivicola (Coastal Bluff Bent Grass) · A. clivicola var. punta-reyesensis (Point Reyes Bentgrass) · A. densiflora (California Bentgrass) · A. elliottiana (Elliot Bentgrass) · A. exarata (Longtongue Bentgrass) · A. exarata var. exarata (Spike Bentgrass) · A. gigantea (Black Bent) · A. hallii (Hall's Bentgrass) · A. hallii var. hallii (Hall's Bentgrass) · A. hendersonii (Henderson's Bentgrass) · A. hooveri (Hoover Bentgrass) · A. howellii (Howell's Bentgrass) · A. humilis (Alpine Bentgrass) · A. hyemalis (Winter Bentgrass) · A. idahoensis (Idaho Bentgrass) · A. idahoensis var. idahoensis (Idaho Bentgrass) · A. longiligula var. longiligula (Longtongue Bentgrass) · A. mertensii (Arctic Bentgrass) · A. microphylla (Small-Leaf Bentgrass) · A. microphylla var. microphylla (Smallleaf Bentgrass) · A. muelleriana (He'u-Pueo) · A. nebulosa (Bentgrass) · A. oregonensis (Oregon Bentgrass) · A. pallens (Leafy Bentgrass) · A. perennans (Autumm Bentgrass) · A. pringlei (Pringle's Bentgrass) · A. rossiae (Mountain Bentgrass) · A. sandwicensis (Hawai'i Bentgrass) · A. scabra (Hairgrass) · A. scabra var. scabra (Rough Bentgrass) · A. stolonifera (Carpet Bentgrass) · A. stolonifera palustris (Creeping Bent Grass) · A. stolonifera var. stolonifera (Creeping Bentgrass) · A. tandilensis (Kennedy's Bentgrass) · A. variabilis (Mountain Bentgrass) · A. vinealis (Brown Bentgrass) · A. vinealis vinealis (Brown Bentgrass)
More Info
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Further Reading
Notes
Contributors
- Brands, S.J. (comp.) 1989-present. The Taxonomicon. Universal Taxonomic Services, Zwaag, The Netherlands. Accessed January 10, 2012.
Identifiers
- Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 4570684
Footnotes
- Sheng-lian Lu & Sylvia M. Phillips "Agrostis". in Flora of China Vol. 22 Page 317, 340, 348, 349, 351, 353, 358, 359, 361. Published by Science Press (Beijing) and Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
