Common name: Browntop Bent
Agrostis capillaris L. APNI*
Description: Tufted or rhizomatous perennials, sometimes spreading by stolons, usually to c. 50 cm tall. Culms slender, erect or spreading.
Sheaths smooth and rounded on the back; ligule truncate or rounded, c. 1 mm long; blade flat, 1–17 cm long, 1–5 mm wide.
Inflorescence loose, divaricately branched, ovoid, cylindrical or pyramidal, 1–20 cm long, branches spreading, bare towards the base. Spikelets 2–3.5 mm long, containing a single floret. Glumes thin, persistent, lanceolate and fairly pointed. Lemma truncate, ovate to elliptical, 1.5–1.8 mm long, awnless; palea thin, c. 50% as long as the lemma.
Flowering: Spring–summer.
Distribution and occurrence: A major turf species in cooler parts of Aust., especially used as a sporting turf, also a major weed of pastures especially in areas of low soil fertility. Grows mainly on poor, acid soil types and prefering drier habitats. Native of Eur.
NSW subdivisions: *NC, *CC, *SC, *NT, *CT, *ST, *CWS, *SWS
Other Australian states: *Vic. *Tas. *W.A. *S.A.
Text by Jacobs, S.W.L., Whalley, R.D.B. & Wheeler, D.J.B. Taxon concept: Grasses of New South Wales, Fourth Edition (2008).
APNI* Provides a link to the Australian Plant Name Index (hosted by the Australian National Botanic Gardens) for comprehensive bibliographic data ***The AVH map option provides a detailed interactive Australia wide distribution map drawn from collections held by all major Australian herbaria participating in the Australian Virtual Herbarium project.
|