Agrostis canina L.

Graminae

Synonyms

Common names

Velvet bent (English), Agrostis des chiens (French) and Sumf straussgras (German).

Description

Perennial plant, small size, hairless, without rhizomes. Stems often horizontal then raised (ascendent), often stoloniferous, 10 to 60 cm high. Blade rolled when young. Leaves from the bottom with rolled, thin blade. Leaves of the stem with spreading but narrow blade. Blades always flexible, pale-green to greyish-green. Ligule long, generally acute. No auricles. Panicle-like, loose inflorescence, spreading at the flowering and contracted afterwards. Spikelets 1-flowered, with a long bent awn on the lemma (A. capillaris, A. stolonifera and A. gigantea have no awn in the spikelets except the aristata form of A. capillaris !). The weight of 1000 seeds is 0.08 to 0.10 g (small seeds). Chromosome number: 2n = 14.

Habitat

From the lowlands to alpine levels in mountain areas.

Temperature

Large climate range. Very resistant to cold.

Water

Sensitive to drought.

Soil

Restricted to wet and very wet soils. Limited to nutrient poor soils but often with high organic matter content, namely peat soils. Optimum on very acid soils. Usually on siliceous soils: sand, schist, etc.

Distribution

Native to Europe and temperate Asia.

References