Agrostis capillaris

• Overview
• Interesting Facts
• Common Names
• Description
• Biology
• Taxonomy
• Similar Species
• More Info
• Further Reading
• Notes

Overview

Interesting Facts

Common Names

Click on the language to view common names.

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]

Physical Description

Habitat

Moist grassy places, probably introduced ; 1000-1500 m [2].

Typically found at an altitude of 0 to 1,758 meters (0 to 5,768 feet).[3]

Biology

Reproduction

Duration: Perennial

Growth

Culture: Space 12-15" apart.

Soil: Minimum pH: 6.1 • Maximum pH: 7.8

Sunlight: Sun Exposure: Full Sun .

Temperature: Cold Hardiness: 3a, 3b, 4a, 4b, 5a, 5b, 6a, 6b, 7a, 7b, 8a, 8b, 9a, 9b, 10a, 10b. (map)

Taxonomy

Synonyms

A. vulgaris Withering. • Agrostis sylvatica Huds. • Agrostis sylvatica Hudson • Agrostis tenuis Sibthorp • Agrostis tenuis var. aristata (Parnell) Druce • Agrostis tenuis var. hispida (Willd.) Philipson • Agrostis tenuis var. pumila (L.) Druce • Agrostis vulgaris With.

Notes

Publishing author : L. Publication : Species Plantarum 1753 (1 May 1753)

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

• A catalogue on the flora of Detroit / by O.A. Farwell. Lansing?: s.n., 1901 url p. 37.
• A manual of farm grasses, Washington, D. C., The author, 1921. url , p. 94.
• A manual of farm grasses, by A. S. Hitchcock. Washington, D. C.: The author, 1921. url p. 94.
• A manual of farm grasses. Washington, Hitchcock, 1921. url p. 94.
• A natural arrangement of British plants: according to their relations to each other as pointed out by Jussieu, De Candolle, Brown, &c.. .. / with an introduction to botany. .. By Samuel Frederick Gray. .. London: Baldwin, Cradock, and Joy, 1821. url p. 147.
• Anales de la Sociedad Española de Historia Natural. Madrid: La Sociedad, url p. 202, p. 248, p. 248, p. 81, p. 81.
• Annotated list of the ferns and flowering plants of New York state, by Homer D. House. Albany, The University of the state of New York, 1924. url p. 98.
• Appendices A-E: terrestrial resources injury assessment report: upper Clark Fork River NPL sites. Helena?, Mont.: Dept. of Justice?, 1995 url .
• Botanical abstracts. Baltimore, Williams & Wilkins Co. url p. 216, p. 219.
• British journal of entomology and natural history. [London]: British Entomological and Natural History Society, 1988- url .
• Britton, N. L. (ed.). North American flora. [New York]New York Botanical Garden. url p. 521.
• Bulletin of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. [Washington, D.C.?]: Supt. of Docs., G.P.O., 1913-1923. url p. 129, p. 29.
• Companion to the Botanical magazine: being a journal, containing such interesting botanical information as does not come within the prescribed limits of the magazine; with occasional figures /by W.J. Hooker. 1 1835 London: Printed by E. Conchman. .. for the proprietor, S. Curtis, 1835-1836 [i.e., 1835-1837] url p. 308, p. 320.
• Contributions from the Botanical Laboratory. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1892- url .
• Contributions from the United States National Herbarium 24 1931 Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1890- url p. 157, p. 159, p. 24, p. 245, p. 44, p. 45, p. 46, p. 52, p. 53, p. 56, p. 62, p. 65, p. 657, p. 67, p. 689, p. 72, p. 74, p. 75, p. 76, p. 81, p. 82, p. 83, p. 83, p. 84, p. 86, p. 88.
• Elements of agricultural chemistry, in a course of lectures for the Board of agriculture. By Sir Humphry Davy. .. Alexandria:and William F. Gray, 1815. url p. 327, p. 327.
• Elements of the science of botany, as established by Linnaeus; with examples to illustrate the classes and orders of his system. London, Printed by T. Bensley for J. Murray.1812. url .
• English cyclopaedia, a new dictionary of universal knowledge, conducted by Charles Knight. London, Bradbury, 1854-61. url .
• Erigenia: journal of the Illinois Native Plant Society. Carbondale, Ill.: The Society, 1982- url p. 32.
• Erythea. a journal of botany, West American and general. 2 1894 Berkeley, Calif., University of California, 1893-1922. url p. 196, p. 197, p. 199, p. 200.
• Flora Americae Septentrionalis: or, A systematic arrangement and description of the plants of North America. Containing, besides what have been described by preceding authors, many new and rare species, collected during twelve years by Frederick Pursh. .. London: Printed for James Black and son, 1816. url p. 63.
• Flora of the District of Columbia and vicinity. By A.S. Hitchcock and Paul C. Standley, with the assistance of the botanists of Washington. WashingtonGovt. print. off.1919 url p. 83.
• Florists' review Chicago: Florists' Pub. Co. url .
• Forage plants and their culture, by Charles V. Piper. New York: The Macmillan company, 1914. url p. 170.
• General index to the reports and bulletins of the experimental farms of the Dominion of Canada, 1887-1901. Ottawa, Printed by S.E. Dawson, printer to the King's Most excellent Majesty, 1902. url p. 8.
• Great Basin naturalist memoirs. 1987 [Provo, Utah]Brigham Young University, 1976-1992. url p. 694, p. 695.
• Hortus Gramineus Woburnensis; or, An account of the results of experiments on the produce and nutritive qualities of different grasses and other plants used as the food of the more valuable domestic animals; instituted by John, Du London, J. Ridgway, 1824. url p. 347, p. 356, p. 69.
• Hortus gramineus Woburnensis: or, an account of the results of experiments on the produce, and nutritive qualities of different grasses, and other plants, used as the food of the more valuable domestic animals: instituted by John Duke of Bedford /Illustrated with dried specimens of the plants upon which these experiments have been made, and practical observations on their natural habits, and the soils best adapted to their growth; pointing out the kinds most profitable for permanent pasture, irrigated meadows, dry or upland pasture, and the alternate husbandry; accompanied with the discriminating characters of the species, and varieties. By George Sinclair. 1816 London: Printed by B. McMillan, 1816. url p. 110, p. 142, p. 154, p. 182.
• Hortus gramineus woburnensis; or, An account of the results of experiments on the produce and nutritive qualities of different grasses and other plants used as the food of the more valuable domestic animals: instituted by John, du By George Sinclair. London: J. Ridgway, 1826. url p. 269, p. 278, p. 300, p. 61.
• Journal of botany, British and foreign. 31 1893 London: Robert Hardwicke, 1863-1942. url p. 290, p. 41.
• Journal of forestry. Washington: Society of American Foresters, 1917- url p. 427.
• Journal of the proceedings of the Linnean Society. Botany. 6 1862 London: Longman, Brown, Green, Longmans, & Roberts: ||Williams and Norgate, 1857-1864. url p. 40.
• Kalm's account of his visit to England: on his way to America in 1748 / London; Macmillan, 1892. url , .
• Manual of the grasses of the United States / by A.S. Hitchcock. Washington: U.S. G.P.O., 1935. url p. 332, p. 341, p. 785, p. 786.
• Notes from the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh. 3 1904 Edinburgh: H. M. Stationery Off. url p. 195.
• Permanent and temporary pastures, London, Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent, 1911. url .
• Permanent and temporary pastures, by Martin J. Sutton. London, Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent & Co., limited, 1911. url p. 31.
• Phytologia. Bronx Park, New York, H.A. Gleason and H.N. Moldenke, url p. 351.
• Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington. Washington, Biological Society of Washington url p. 160, p. 176.
• Pursh, F. T. Flora Americae Septentrionalis: or, A systematic arrangement and description of the plants of North america. Containing, besides what have been described by preceding authors, many new and rare species, collected during twelve years travels and residence in that country /by Frederick Pursh. .. 1 1814 London: Printed for White, Cochrance, and co., 1814. url p. 63.
• Reports of the Director. .. / Experimental Farms. Ottawa: Experimental Farms, 1888-1916. url p. 184, p. 8.
• Sensitive plant species survey, Ashland District, Custer National Forest, Powder River and Rosebud Counties, Montana / by Bonnie L. Heidel and Hollis Marriott; for Custer National Forest. Helena, MT: Montana Natural Heritage Program, [1996] url .
• Spixiana. München: Zoologische Staatssammlung München, 1977- url p. 74.
• Standardized plant names; a catalogue of approved scientific and common names of plants in American commerce. Salem, Mass., 1923. url p. 188, p. 395, p. 40.
• The Canadian field-naturalist. Ottawa, Ottawa Field-Naturalists' Club. url p. 420, p. 429, p. 433, p. 536.
• The English flora. London, Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown and Green, [1828-30] url p. 93.
• The English flora. London: Longman, 1824 url p. 92, p. 92, p. 93.
• The Florists' exchange: a weekly medium of interchange for florists, nurserymen, seedsmen and the trade in general. New York, N.Y.: [A.T. De la Mare Ptg. and Pub. Co., url p. 1066, p. 121.
• The Gardeners' chronicle and agricultural gazette. London: published for the proprietors, 1844-1873. url p. 582.
• The Great Basin naturalist. 43 1983 Provo, Utah: M.L. Bean Life Science Museum, Brigham Young University, 1939-1999. url p. 119.
• The Horticulturist and journal of rural art and rural taste. Albany, N.Y.: Luther Tucker, 1846-1875. url p. 485.
• The Journal of the Linnean Society. Botany. 11 1871 London: the Society: Longman, Green, Longman, Roberts & Green: ||Williams and Norgate, 1865-1968. url p. 342, p. 713.
• The flora of Berkshire; being a topographical and historical account of the flowering plants and ferns found in the county, with short biographical notices of the botanists who have contributed to Berkshire botany during the Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1897. url p. 561.
• The genera of grasses of the United States: with special reference to the economic species / by A.S. Hitchcock. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, 1920. url p. 129.
• The grasses of Iowa / L. H. Pammel, J. B. Weems, and F. Lamson-Schribner. Des Moines: Iowa Geological Survey, 1901-1904 [] i.e. 1905] url p. 269.
• The plants of Prince Edward Island / Ottawa: Research Branch, Agriculture Canada, 1985. url p. 14.
• The standard cyclopedia of horticulture; a discussion, for the amateur, and the professional and commercial grower, of the kinds, characteristics and methods of cultivation of the species of plants grown in the regions of the United States a Illustrated with colored plates, four thousand engravings in the text, and ninety-six full-page cuts. New York, Macmillan, 1919 [c1914] url p. 241.
• Torreya. Burlington, Vt., Torrey Botanical Club, 1901-1945. url p. 55, p. 87.
• Tracts relative to botany, tr. from different languages. Illustrated by nine copper plates, and occasional remarks. London, Printed by Phillips and Fardon [etc.]1805. url p. 40.
• Vegetable physiology and systematic botany / by William B. Carpenter. London: W. S. Orr, 1848 [i.e. 1849]. url .

Notes

Contributors

Data Sources

Accessed through GBIF Data Portal November 15, 2007:

• Jyväskylä University Museum - The Section of Natural Sciences, Vascular plant collection of Jyvaskyla University Museum
• Missouri Botanical Garden, Missouri Botanical Garden
• Oregon State University, Vascular Plant Collection
• The Danish Biodiversity Information Facility, Botany registration database by Danish botanists
• UK National Biodiversity Network, Botanical Society of the British Isles - Vascular Plants Database
• UK National Biodiversity Network, Environment and Heritage Service - EHS Species Datasets
• UK National Biodiversity Network, Scottish Borders Biological Records Centre - SWT Scottish Borders Local Wildlife Site Survey data 1996-2000 - species information

Identifiers

• Biodiversity Heritage Library NamebankID: 2664219
• Catalogue of Life Accepted Name Code: ITS-185249
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility Taxonkey: 5304283
• Globally Unique Identifier: urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:96059-3
• GRIN Nomen Number: 2017
• Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) Taxonomic Serial Number (TSN): 185249
• International Plant Names Index (IPNI) ID: 30197865
• MoBot NameID: 25502134
• Natural Heritage Network Species Identifier: PMPOA04090
• U.S.D.A. Plant Symbol: AGTE
• Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 20292

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 capillaris". in Flora of China Vol. 22 Page 340, 342, 343. Missouri Botanical Garden Press. Online at EFloras.org. [back]
3. Mean = 379.330 meters (1,244.521 feet), Standard Deviation = 428.380 based on 2,769 observations. Altitude information for each observation from British Oceanographic Data Centre. [back]

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