E-Flora BC: Electronic Atlas of the Flora of British Columbia

Agrostis stolonifera L.
creeping bentgrass
Poaceae (Grass family)

Introduction to Vascular Plants

© Jamie Fenneman  Email the photographer   (Photo ID #10042)

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Distribution of Agrostis stolonifera
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Species Information

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General:
Perennial, creeping grass from rhizomes and leafy stolons rooting at the nodes, vigorously spreading, the stolons 5-150 cm long; stems 8-100 cm tall.
Leaves:
Sheaths smooth; blades 2-10 cm long, 2-8 mm wide, flat; ligules 2-5 mm long.
Flowers:
Inflorescence narrowly egg-shaped, more or less constricted, dense, the lower branches 2-6 cm long, appressed to the axis except briefly during flowering; spikelets densely clustered; glumes 1.6-3 mm long; lemmas 1.4-2 mm long, awnless except rarely with short, straight awns from near the tips, the callus hairs sparse, to 0.5 mm long; paleas 0.7-1.4 mm long, at least 1/2 as long as the lemmas; anthers 0.9-1.4 mm long.
Notes:
See comments under A. gigantea.

Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

USDA Species Characteristics

Flower Colour:
Purple
Blooming Period:
Mid Summer
Fruit/Seed characteristics:
Colour: Brown
Present over the Summer
Source:  The USDA

Habitat / Range

Mesic to wet lawns, fields, ditches, pond margins, lakeshores and salt marshes in the lowland to montane zones; common throughout BC; introduced from Europe.

Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Ecology

Ecological Framework for Agrostis stolonifera

The table below shows the species-specific information calculated from
original data (BEC database) provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and Range.
(Updated August, 2013)

Site Information
Value / Class

Minimum

Average

Maximum

Elevation (metres) 0 616 1850
Slope Gradient (%) 0 9 72
Aspect (degrees)
[0 - N; 90 - E; 180 - S; 270 - W]
5 209 360
Soil Moisture Regime (SMR)
[0 - very xeric; 4 - mesic;
8 - hydric]
2 5 8
Modal Nutrient Regime
Class
D
Number of field plots
 species was recorded in:
129
Modal BEC Zone Class
CDF
All BEC Zones (# of stations/zone) species was recorded in: BG(7), BWBS(1), CDF(26), CWH(16), ESSF(4), ICH(6), IDF(11), MH(2), MS(3), PP(2), SBS(3)

Climate

The climate type for this species, as reported in the: "British Columbia plant species codes and selected attributes. Version 6 Database" (Meidinger et al. 2008), is not evaluated, unknown or variable.

Synonyms and Alternate Names

Agrostis alba var. palustris (Huds.) Pers.
Agrostis alba var. stolonifera (L.) Sm.
Agrostis maritima Lam.
Agrostis palustris Huds.
Agrostis stolonifera var. compacta Hartm.
Agrostis stolonifera var. palustris (Huds.) Farw.

Taxonomic and Nomenclatural Links

Additional Photo Sources

General References