Agrostis humilis

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

Overview

Interesting Facts

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

Biology

Reproduction

Duration: Perennial

Growth

Culture: Space 36-48" apart.

Soil: Minimum pH: 4.5 • Maximum pH: 6.0

Sunlight: Sun Exposure: Full Sun .

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

Taxonomy

Synonyms

Agrostis thurberiana A. S. Hitchc. • Podagrostis humilis (Vasey) Bj?rkman • Podagrostis humilis (Vasey) Björkman • Podagrostis thurberiana (A. S. Hitchc.) Hultén

Notes

Publishing author : Vasey Publication : Bull . Torrey Bot. Club x . (1883) 21.

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 vegetation index of biotic integrity for small-order streams in southwest Montana and a floristic quality assessment for western Montana wetlands / [Helena, Mont.: Montana Natural Heritage Program, c2005]. url .
• American grasses / Washington: Gov. Print. Off., 1897-1901. url p. 153.
• American grasses / by F. Lamson-Scribner. Washington: U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Division of Agrontology, 1897- url p. 153, p. 153.
• American grasses. Washington, Govt. Print. Off., 1900. url p. 141.
• An illustrated flora of the Pacific States: Washington, Oregon, and California. Stanford University, Stanford University Press, 1923-[60] url p. 148, p. 150.
• Britton, N. L. (ed.). North American flora. [New York]New York Botanical Garden. url p. 520.
• Bulletin / United States Department of Agriculture, Division of Agrostology. Washington, D.C.: The Division, 1895-1901. url p. 153, p. 153, p. 26.
• Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club. 48 1921 New York: Torrey Botanical Club, 1870-1996 url p. 317, p. 386.
• Bulletin. Bureau of Plant Industry. U. S. Department of Agriculture. 1901-13. WashingtonGovt. Print. Off. url , p. 49.
• Catalogue of Canadian plants. .. Montreal [etc.]1883-1902. url , p. 392.
• Contributions from the New York Botanical Garden. New York: The Garden, 1899- url , p. 636.
• Contributions from the United States National Herbarium 11 1906 Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1890- url p. 118, p. 119, p. 581, p. 62.
• First report on the flora of Wyoming / Aven Nelson. Laramie: Wyoming Experiment Station, 1896. url p. 192.
• Flora of the Rocky Mountains and adjacent plains, Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, Idaho, Montana, Saskatchewan, Alberta, and neighboring parts of Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota, and British Columbia, by P.A. Rydberg. .. New York, The author, 1922. url p. 53.
• Flora of the Yellowstone National Park / by Frank Tweedy. Washington, D.C.: F. Tweedy, 1886. url p. 23, p. 23, p. 70, p. 70.
• Flora of the northwest coast, including the area west of the summit of the Cascade Mountains, from the forty-ninth parallel south to the Calapooia Mountains on the south border of Lane County, Oregon. Lancaster, Pa., Press of the New Era Printing Company, 1915. url .
• Flora of the northwest coast: including the area west of the summit of the Cascade Mountains, from the forty-ninth parallel south to the Calapooia Mountains on the south border of Lane County, Oregon / by Charles V. Piper and R. Kent Beattie. Lancaster, Pa.: Press of the New era printing company, 1915. url p. 43.
• Flora of the state of Washington / by Charles V. Piper. Washington: G.P.O., 1906 url p. 119.
• Flora of the state of Washington. By Charles V. Piper. Washington, Govt. Print. Off., 1906. url p. 119.
• Great Basin naturalist memoirs. 1987 [Provo, Utah]Brigham Young University, 1976-1992. url p. 694.
• How to know the grasses; pictured-keys for determining the common and important American grasses, with suggestions and aids for their study. Dubuque, Iowa, W. C. Brown Co.[1954] url p. 117.
• Illustrations of North American grasses. Washington, Govt. Print. Off., 1891-93. url p. 129.
• Key to the Rocky Mountain flora. Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, Idaho, Montana, Saskatchewan, Alberta, and parts of Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota, and British Columbia. New York, [c1919] url .
• Key to the Rocky Mountain flora; Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, Idaho, Montana, Saskatchewan, Alberta, and parts of Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota, and British Columbia. New York, 1919. url p. 28.
• Manual of the grasses of the United States / by A.S. Hitchcock. Washington: U.S. G.P.O., 1935. url p. 332, p. 782.
• Mount Rainier: a record of exploration / edited by Edmond S. Meany. New York: Macmillan, 1916. url p. 282.
• Naturalist's guide to the Americas, prepared by the Committee on the Preservation of Natural Conditions of the Ecological Society of America, with assistance from numerous organizations and individuals, assembled and edited by chairman, Baltimore, Williams & Wilkins, 1926. url p. 159, p. 159.
• New manual of botany of the central Rocky mountains (vascular plants) Cincinnati [etc.]American Book Company[c1909] url .
• Phytologia. Bronx Park, New York, H.A. Gleason and H.N. Moldenke, url p. 301.
• Plant indicators: the relation of plant communities to process and practice. WashingtonCarnegie Institution of Washington1920 url p. 235.
• Rocky mountain flowers; an illustrated guide for plantlovers and plant-users; with twenty-five plates in color and twenty-one plates in black and white [by] Frederic Edward Clements...and Edith Schwartz Clements... 1914 New York city, the H.W. Wilson company, 1914. url p. 341.
• Sensitive plant surveys in the Big Belt and Elkhorn Mountains, U.S.D.A. Forest Service, Region 1, Helena National Forest, Montana / prepared by Jackie M. Poole and Bonnie L. Heidel; prepared for Helena National Forest. Helena, Mont.: Montana Natural Heritage Program, [1993] url .
• Sensitive, threatened, and endangered vascular plants of Montana / Peter Lesica, J. Stephen Shelly. Helena, Mont.: Montana Natural Heritage Program, Montana State Library, 1991. url p. 83.
• Syllogeus. Ottawa, National Museum of Natural Sciences, 1972-1995. url p. 13, p. 13.
• The American farm book or compend of American agriculture; being a practical treatise on soils, manures, draining, irrigation, grasses, grain, roots, fruits. .. by R. L. Allen N. Y.C. M. Saxon1850 url p. 104.
• The American farm book: or, Compend of American agriculture; being a practical treatise on soils, manures, draining irrigation, grasses, grain, roots, fruits, cotton, tobacco, sugar cane, rice, and every staple product of t by R.L. Allen. New York: C.M. Saxton, Barker & Co.; 1860, c1849 url p. 104.
• The Canadian field-naturalist. Ottawa, Ottawa Field-Naturalists' Club. url p. 270, p. 417, p. 420, p. 421, p. 436, p. 50.
• The Great Basin naturalist. 41 1981 Provo, Utah: M.L. Bean Life Science Museum, Brigham Young University, 1939-1999. url p. 238, p. 342, p. 4, p. 56.
• The Mountaineer. Seattle, The Mountaineers, 1907-1921. url p. 111.
• Vascular plant and sensitive plant species inventory for the highland mountains, Deerlodge National Forest; prepared for Deerlodge National Forest / prepared by Peter Lesica. Helena, Mont.: Montana Natural Heritage Program, [1992] url , p. 101, p. 24, p. 45.
• Vegetation and flora of the Line Creek Plateau area, Carbon County, Montana / prepared by Peter Lesica and the Montana Natural Heritage Program; prepared for USDA Forest Service, Intermountain Research Station. Helena, MT: Montana Natural Heritage Program, [1993] url p. 23.

Notes

Contributors

• Brands, S.J. (comp.) 1989-present. The Taxonomicon. Universal Taxonomic Services, Zwaag, The Netherlands. Accessed January 10, 2012.

Data Sources

Accessed through GBIF Data Portal November 15, 2007:

• Berkeley Natural History Museums, University and Jepson Herbaria DiGIR provider
• Oregon State University, Vascular Plant Collection
• USDA PLANTS, USDA PLANTS Database
• University of Washington Burke Museum, Vascular Plant Collection - University of Washington Herbarium
• Utah State University, USU-UTC Specimen Database

Identifiers

• Biodiversity Heritage Library NamebankID: 2663564
• Catalogue of Life Accepted Name Code: ITS-182505
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility Taxonkey: 13729358
• Globally Unique Identifier: urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:385849-1
• GRIN Nomen Number: 412763
• Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) Taxonomic Serial Number (TSN): 182505
• International Plant Names Index (IPNI) ID: 7653-2
• Natural Heritage Network Species Identifier: PMPOA040P0
• U.S.D.A. Plant Symbol: POTH3
• Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 20305

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]

©2004-2012 David Stang. All rights reserved.