Agrostis mertensii
Agrostis vinealis
agrostide de Mertens, Merten's bentgrass, northern bent, northern bentgrass
brown bent, brown bentgrass
(5)10-40 cm, erect, with 2-4 nodes.
10-60 cm, erect or geniculate at the base, slender, smooth, with 1-2(4) nodes.
smooth;
ligules 0.6-5 mm, dorsal surfaces scabridulous, apices acute to obtuse, entire or lacerate to erose;
blades 2-10 cm long, 1-3 mm wide, usually flat, sometimes involute, sometimes bristlelike, adaxial surfaces scabrous, abaxial surfaces sometimes scabrous.
mostly basal or basal and cauline, basal leaves persistent;
sheaths smooth or scabrous;
ligules 0.7-3.3 mm, scabridulous or smooth, usually rounded, sometimes acute or truncate, erose, sometimes lacerate;
blades 2.5-13 cm long, 0.5-3 mm wide, usually flat, occasionally involute or folded.
(2)3-10 cm long, (0.5)1.5-5 cm wide, widely ovate to lanceolate, usually open, exserted from the upper sheaths at maturity, lowest node with (1)2-5 branches;
branches erect, not capillary, readily visible, smooth or sparsely scabridulous, branched above midlength, spikelets in the distal 1/2 or beyond, lower branches (1.5)2-4 cm;
pedicels 0.4-6.4 mm.
2-15 cm long, (0.8)1-5.5(8) cm wide, lanceolate to oblong, somewhat open, often contracted after anthesis, lowest node with (1)3-8 branches;
branches scabrous, readily visible, more or less erect, branched mostly at or below midlength, spikelets closely clustered, lower branches 3-5 cm;
pedicels 0.5-2 mm.
lanceolate to narrowly ovate, dark brown or purplish.
lanceolate to narrowly oblong, greenish, purplish, or brownish.
subequal, 2-4 mm, elliptical to lanceolate, midveins scabrous to scabridulous, at least distally, 1-veined, acute;
callus hairs to 0.4 mm, sparse;
lemmas 1.6-2.6 mm, smooth or scabridulous, translucent to opaque, 5-veined, veins prominent to obscure, apices acute, entire or erose, awned from just below midlength, awns (2)3-4.4 mm, geniculate, exserted, persistent;
paleas absent, or to 0.1 mm and thin;
anthers 3, 0.5-0.8 mm, usually shed at anthesis.
equal to subequal, 2-4 mm, membranous, acute to acuminate;
lower glumes 1-veined, scabrous to scabridulous over the midvein;
upper glumes usually shorter than the lower glumes, 1(3)-veined, almost smooth;
callus hairs to 0.1 mm, sparse;
lemmas 1.5-2.4 mm, about 3/4 the length of the glumes, bases minutely pubescent, glabrous and smooth elsewhere, translucent to opaque, 5-veined, veins usually prominent distally, apices blunt, entire, usually awned from near the base, awns 2-4.5 mm, geniculate, rarely unawned;
paleas to about 0.2 mm;
anthers 3,1-1.8 mm.
1.4-2 mm;
endosperm solid.
0.8-1.3 mm;
endosperm solid.
= 56 [reports of 2n = 42 are for Agrostis scabra].
= 28.
Agrostis mertensii
Agrostis vinealis
Agrostis mertensii grows on banks and gravel bars in river and lake valleys, and on open grasslands and rocky slopes of mountains and cliffs. It has a circumboreal distribution. In the Flora region, it extends from Alaska across Canada to Newfoundland and Greenland, south in the mountains to Wyoming and Colorado in the west, and West Virginia, Tennessee, and North Carolina in the east. It also grows in arctic Europe, Scandinavia, the mountainous regions of Mexico, and northwestern South America, where some unusually robust specimens have been somewhat dubiously referred to this species.
Agrostis mertensii is frequently confused with dwarf, awned forms of A. scabra (p. 646), but has larger spikelets, more culm nodes, larger anthers, slightly wider, flatter leaves, and panicles that are less expanded and less than lh the culm length. Agrostis mertensii is also often confused with A. idahoensis (p. 649), but A. mertensii tends to grow in better-drained habitats. Agrostis mertensii differs from A. anadyrensis (see next) in being less robust, having narrower, less abundant basal leaves, smaller panicles, and minor differences in the insertion of the awns on the lemmas. In addition, the panicle branches are smooth to weakly scabrous, contrasting with the branches of A. anadyrensis, which are strongly scabrous, with long acicules throughout their length.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Agrostis vinealis is native to Eurasia; it is not clear if populations in Greenland and Alaska represent a circumboreal distribution, or are introductions. It forms a fine, compact turf. It is similar to A. canina (see previous) in its habitat, except that it appears to be more heat tolerant and drought resistant. It used to be included in A. canina, but differs from that species in its subterranean rhizomes and lack of leafy stolons. Agrostis vinealis readily hybridizes with A. capillaris (p. 639) and A. stolonifera (p. 641), the hybrids being somewhat intermediate between the two parents.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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