font settings and languages

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

Agrostis castellana

(Bentgrass)

Interesting Facts

[ Back to top ]
 

Common Names

[ Back to top ]

Click on the language to view common names.

Common Names in English:

Bentgrass, Dryland Browntop, Highland Bent

Common Names in German:

Kastilisches Straußgras

Common Names in Italian:

Capellini Di Castiglia

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

Habit: Graminoid

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

Size/Age/Growth

Size: under 6" tall.

Habitat

Typically found at an altitude of 0 to 2,464 meters (0 to 8,084 feet).[2]

Biology

[ Back to top ]

Growth

Soil: Minimum pH: 5.6 • Maximum pH: 8.5

Sunlight: Sun Exposure: Full Sun .

Moisture: Drought Tolerance: High

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

Taxonomy

[ Back to top ]

Synonyms

Agrostis alba castellana (Boiss. & Reut.) P. Fourn. • Agrostis capillaris L. castellana< /i> (Boiss. & Reut.) O. Bolòs • Masalles & Vigo

Notes

Publishing author : Boiss. & Reut. Publication : Diagn. Pl. Nov. Hisp. 26. 1842

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 15, 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. Mean = 260.050 meters (853.182 feet), Standard Deviation = 302.920 based on 385 observations. Altitude information for each observation from British Oceanographic Data Centre. [back]
Last Revised: 7/15/2012