font settings and languages

Font Size: Large | Normal | Small
Font Face: Verdana | Geneva | Georgia
Languages:

Agrostis vinealis

(Brown Bentgrass)

Interesting Facts

[ Back to top ]
 

Common Names

[ Back to top ]

Click on the language to view common names.

Common Names in English:

Brown Bentgrass, Brown Bent, Brown Bent Grass

Common Names in German:

Sand-Straußgras

Common Names in Russian:

Polevitsa Vinogradnikovaia

Description

[ Back to top ]

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]

Physical Description

Species Agrostis vinealis

Perennial , tufted , shortly rhizomatous . Culms erect from a geniculate base , 30-60 cm tall, ca. 1 mm in diam., 3-noded. Leaf sheaths smooth ; leaf blades narrowly linear , flat or weakly rolled, grayish green, 5-8 cm × 0.5-2 mm, scabrid ; ligule 1.5-3 mm, apex obtuse . Panicle lanceolate to narrowly ovate , 7-12 cm; branches 2-5 per node, laxly ascending , slender, moderately scabrid. Spikelets 2-2.5 mm, purple; glumes oblong-lanceolate, subequal , lower slightly longer , keel scabrid or almost smooth on upper glume, apex acuminate; callus hairs ca. 0.2 mm; lemma 2/3 spikelet length, awned from slightly below middle to lower 1/3, or awnless, apex obtuse; awn geniculate, 3-3.5 mm; palea very small. Anthers 1-1.5 mm. Fl. and fr. summer and autumn. [source]

Agrostis vinealis lies at the center of a complex of closely related taxa, including in China A. flaccida and A. turkestanica. Characters separating the taxa are very slight, which has led to differences in opinion as to their taxonomic status. Agrostis vinealis itself is widespread in Eurasia , but other members are usually of more restricted distribution. Agrostis trinii, based on an E Asian element with very scabrid leaf blades , has been reported from NE China. Other characters used to distinguish it are conflicting in the literature, and it seems impossible to maintain it as distinct . [source]

Habit: Graminoid

Flowers: Bloom Period: n/a • Flower Color: inconspicuous, none

Size/Age/Growth

Size: 12-18" tall.

Habitat

Damp grassy places; 1500-1700 m [2].

Typically found at an altitude of 0 to 3,061 meters (0 to 10,043 feet).[3]

Biology

[ Back to top ]

Reproduction

Duration: Perennial

Growth

Culture: Space 12-15" apart.

Sunlight: Sun Exposure: Full Sun .

Moisture: Drought Tolerance: High

Temperature: Cold Hardiness: 3a, 3b, 4a, 4b, 5a, 5b. (map)

Taxonomy

[ Back to top ]

Synonyms

A. canina trinii (Turczaninow) Hulton • A. canina var. mon-tana Hartman • A. coarctata trinii (Turczaninow) H. Scholz • A. flaccida trinii (Turczaninow) T. Koyama • A. flaccida var. trinii (Turczaninow) Ohwi • A. vinealis trinii (Turczaninow) Tzvelev. • Agrostis alba var. vinealis (Schreb.) Richter • Agrostis canina montana (Hartman) Hartman • Agrostis canina var. montana Hartman • Agrostis stricta J. F. Gmel. • Agrostis trinii Turcz. • Agrostis vinealis trinii (Turcz.) Tzvelev

Notes

Publishing author : Brot. Publication : Fl. Lusit. 1: 74 1804

Similar Species

[ Back to top ]

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

[ Back to top ]

Further Reading

[ Back to top ]

Notes

[ Back to top ]

Contributors

Data Sources

Accessed through GBIF Data Portal November 30, 2007:

Identifiers

Footnotes

  1. 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]
  2. "Agrostis vinealis". in Flora of China Vol. 22 Page 341, 347, 348. Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
  3. Mean = 222.030 meters (728.445 feet), Standard Deviation = 246.580 based on 4,346 observations. Altitude information for each observation from British Oceanographic Data Centre. [back]
Last Revised: 7/15/2012