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

Apera interrupta (L.) P. Beauv.
interrupted apera (dense silkybent)
Poaceae (Grass family)

Introduction to Vascular Plants

© Reg Newman  Email the photographer   (Photo ID #70767)

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Distribution of Apera interrupta
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Species Information

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General:
Annual, tufted or not, smooth grass from fibrous roots; stems 1 to several, hollow, mostly 10-40 (60) cm tall.
Leaves:
Sheaths open; blades 1-3 mm wide, flat to folded; ligules 2-3 (5) mm long, the margins strongly jagged, blunt, usually smooth.
Flowers:
Inflorescence a narrow, interrupted panicle, (3) 5-10 (15) cm long, greenish; lower glumes scarcely 2 mm long, about 3/4 the length of the upper ones; lemmas about 2 mm long, awned below the tips, the straight, delicate awns 6-7 mm long; paleas nearly equal to the lemmas; rachillas prolonged as bristles about 0.5 mm long; anthers 0.5 mm long; lodicules about 0.5 mm long.

Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Habitat / Range

Dry waste areas in the lowland, steppe and montane zones; infrequent in S BC; introduced from Europe.

Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Ecology

Ecological Framework for Apera interrupta

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) 355 576 770
Slope Gradient (%) 3 17 50
Aspect (degrees)
[0 - N; 90 - E; 180 - S; 270 - W]
25 261 270
Soil Moisture Regime (SMR)
[0 - very xeric; 4 - mesic;
8 - hydric]
2 3 5
Modal Nutrient Regime
Class
E
Number of field plots
 species was recorded in:
4
Modal BEC Zone Class
PP
All BEC Zones (# of stations/zone) species was recorded in: BG(1), ICH(1), PP(2)

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 interrupta L.

Taxonomic and Nomenclatural Links

Additional Photo Sources

General References