Aira praecox L.
early hairgrass (yellow hairgrass)
Poaceae (Grass family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
early hairgrass (yellow hairgrass)
Poaceae (Grass family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
Species Information
General:
Annual, tufted, smooth or more or less rough short-hairy grass from fibrous roots; stems 1 to several, slender, delicate, hollow, 2-12 (20) cm tall.
Leaves:
Sheaths open; blades scarcely 0.5 mm wide, threadlike, in-rolled; ligules 1-3 mm long, pointed to blunt, slightly jagged tips.
Flowers:
Inflorescence a compact, congested and almost continuous, more or less spikelike panicle, mostly 1-3 cm long, the branches erect; spikelet stalks shorter than the spikelets; glumes (2.7) 3-3.2 (3.5) mm long; lemmas (2.5) 3-3.2 (3.5) mm long, usually lightly rough short-hairy, awned, the awns 2-3 mm long; anthers about 0.2 mm long.
Illustration
If more than one illustration is available for a species (e.g., separate illustrations were provided for two subspecies) then links to the separate images will be provided below. Note that individual subspecies or varietal illustrations are not always available.
Illustration Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia
Ecology
Ecological Framework for Aira praecox
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)
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 |
||
|
Avg |
Min |
Max |
|
| Elevation
(metres) |
281 | 0 | 2100 |
| Slope
Gradient (%) |
38 | 0 | 120 |
|
Aspect (degrees) |
135 | 10 | 360 |
| Soil
Moisture Regime (SMR) [0 - very xeric; 4 - mesic; 8 - hydric] |
1 | 0 | 6 |
| Modal
Nutrient Regime
Class |
B | ||
| #
of field plots species was recorded in: |
95 | ||
| Modal
BEC Zone Class |
CDF | ||
|
All BEC Zones (# of stations/zone) species was recorded in |
CDF(32), CWH(18), ICH(2), MS(1) | ||
|
Source:
Klinkenberg 2013
|
|||
Habitat and Range
Vernally moist to dry gravelly or rocky bluffs and grassy meadows; common on S Vancouver Island, the Gulf Islands and lower mainland, infrequent N to the Queen Charlotte Islands; introduced from Europe.Status Information
Synonyms
Synonyms and Alternate Names:
Aspris praecox (L.) Nash