Agrostis

Creeping bent Agrostis stolonifera, photographed by Carl Farmer.

Belongs within: Pooideae.

Agrostis, the bentgrasses, is a genus of about 200 species of grasses found in temperate and tropical montane regions of the Northern Hemisphere. Many bentgrasses are widely used in lawns. These include the creeping bentgrass A. stolonifera, which is native to Eurasia and northern Africa and has been widely introduced in other parts of the world such as North America.

Characters (from Lu & Phillips): 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.

<==Agrostis
    |--A. alba C06
    |--A. avenacea GK00
    |--A. bromidioides S06
    |--A. canina C06
    |--A. capillaris AC93
    |--A. cylindracea B02
    |--A. dyeri Petrie 1890 C06
    |    |--A. d. var. dyeri C06
    |    |--A. d. var. aristata Hack. in Cheeseman 1906 C06
    |    `--A. d. var. delicatior Hack. in Cheeseman 1906 C06
    |--A. gigantea O88
    |--A. hackelii Fries 1905 S06
    |    |--A. h. f. hackelii S06
    |    `--A. h. f. viridiflora Hackel in Stuckert 1906 S06
    |--A. hookeriana O88
    |--A. inaequiglumis O88
    |--A. infirma H03
    |    |--A. i. var. infirma H03
    |    `--A. i. var. remota H03
    |--A. magellanca [incl. A. antarctica, A. multicaulis] C06
    |--A. montevidensis [=A. canina var. montividensis; incl. A. trichotoma Nees apud Trin. 1845] S06
    |    |--A. m. var. montevidensis D03
    |    `--A. m. var. submutica D03
    |--A. muelleri [incl. A. subulata] C06
    |    |--A. m. var. muelleri C06
    |    `--A. m. var. paludosa Hack. in Cheeseman 1906 C06
    |--A. munroana O88
    |--A. muscosa Kirk 1881 [incl. A. aemula var. spathacea Berggr. 1877, A. spencei Kirk 1897 (n. n.)] C06
    |--A. nana S06
    |    |--A. n. var. nana S06
    |    `--A. n. var. aristata non A. dyeri var. aristata Hack. in Cheeseman 1906 S06
    |--A. nervosa O88
    |--A. parviflora An27
    |--A. peninsularis S03
    |--A. petriei Hack. 1903 C06
    |    |--A. p. var. petriei C06
    |    `--A. p. var. mutica Hack. in Cheeseman 1906 C06
    |--A. pilosula O88
    |--A. pulchella Kunth. 1829 S06
    |    |--A. p. f. pulchella S06
    |    |--A. p. f. purpurascens [=A. scabra f. purpurascens] S06
    |    `--A. p. f. virescens [=A. scabra f. virescens] S06
    |--A. rigida C06
    |--A. stolonifera BBO01
    |--A. tenella Petrie 1890 C06
    |--A. tenuis C96
    |--A. verticillata S06
    `--A. vulgaris Al27

*Type species of generic name indicated

REFERENCES

[Al27] Allan, H. H. 1927. The vegetation of Mount Peel, Canterbury, New Zealand. Part 2.—The grassland and other herbaceous communities. Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute 57: 73–89.

[An27] Andersen, J. C. 1927. Popular names of New Zealand plants. Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute 57: 905–977.

[AC93] Atkinson, I. A. E., & E. K. Cameron. 1993. Human influence on the terrestrial biota and biotic communities of New Zealand. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 8 (12): 447–451.

[BBO01] Begerow, D., R. Bauer & F. Oberwinkler. 2001. Muribasidiospora: Microstromatales or Exobasidiales? Mycological Research 105 (7): 798–810.

[B02] Bosc, C. 1802. Description d'un nouvel agrostis. Bulletin des Sciences, par la Societé Philomathique de Paris 1 (Bulletin de la Société Philomathique, a ses correspondans): 12'.

[C96] Campbell, N. A. 1996. Biology 4^th ed. The Benjamin/Cummings Publishing Company, Inc.: Menlo Park (California).

[C06] Cheeseman, T. F. 1906. Manual of the New Zealand Flora. John Mackay, Government Printer: Wellington.

[D03] Dusén, P. 1903. The vegetation of western Patagonia. In: Scott, W. B. (ed.) Reports of the Princeton University Expeditions to Patagonia, 1896–1899 vol. 8. Botany pp. 1–34. The University: Princeton (New Jersey).

[GK00] Gibson, N., & G. J. Keighery. 2000. Flora and vegetation of the Byenup-Muir reserve system, south-west Western Australia. CALMScience 3 (3): 323–402.

[H03] Heads, M. 2003. Ericaceae in Malesia: vicariance biogeography, terrane tectonics and ecology. Telopea 10 (1): 311–449.

[O88] Ohba, H. 1988. The alpine flora of the Nepal Himalayas: an introductory note. In: Ohba, H., & S. B. Malla (eds) The Himalayan Plants vol. 1. The University Museum, University of Tokyo, Bulletin 31: 19–46.

[S03] Singh, J. N. 2003. Grasses and their hydro-edaphic characteristics in the grassland habitat of Nilgiris Biosphere Reserve, Tamil Nadu. Bulletin of the Botanical Survey of India 45 (1–4): 143–164.

[S06] Stuckert, T. 1906. Segunda contribución al conocimiento de las gramináceas Argentinas. Anales del Museo Nacional de Buenos Aires, serie 3, 6: 408–555.

Last updated: 30 November 2017.