northern bentgrass Status: State Sensitive

• Main Authors: Poaceae (grass Family, Agrostis Borealis, Rank Gss
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Subjects: Current (1980; Jagged; Lemma; Newfoundland; Alaska
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.214.5612; http://www1.dnr.wa.gov/nhp/refdesk/fguide/pdf/agrbor.pdf

perennial is 6 to 16 in. (15 to 40 cm) tall and has smooth sheaths. The ligules end abruptly (almost as if squared off), are 1/32 to 1/8 in. (1 to 3 mm) long and more or less jagged but not fringed with conspicuous hairs along the margin. The blades are 1/32 to 1/8 in. (1 to 3 mm) broad and flat (folded). The panicle is narrow but not greatly congested, 1 to 4 in. (3 to 12 cm) long, purplish, with branches ascending to erect, and spikeletbearing or branched to below the middle. The glumes are acute, with a keel that is slightly rough to the touch because of the presence of short, stiff hairs. The first glume is 1/8 in. (2 to 3 mm) long and the second only slightly shorter. The lemma is subequal to the second glume, 1/16 to 1/8 in. (2 to 2 mm) long, and awned from midlength or just below. The awn of the lemma is mostly about 1/8 in. (3 mm) long and bent at a joint, but is sometimes 1/ 32 to 1/16 in. (1 to 2 mm) long and straight. The palea is less than 1/64 in. (1/4 to mm) long and the rachilla is not prolonged. The anthers are 1/64 to 1/32 in. (1/2 to mm) long, while the lodicules are about 1/64 in. (1/2 mm) long. Identification Tips: A. borealis can be distinguished from A. variabilis by its lemmas. The lemmas of A. borealis are prominent and have a 1/16 to 1/8 in. (2 to 3 mm) bent awn. The lemmas of A. variabilis are unawned or very occasionally have a weak, straight awn. Among the Agrostis that occur above timberline, including A. humilis and A. idahoensis, A borealis is the only one with an awned lemma. A hand lens or microscope and technical key are needed for positive identification. Phenology: Flowering occurs from July to August. Range: This taxon is found from Alaska to Newfoundland, and has been observed from the southern to the northeastern United States, in the higher Appalachians to North Carolina, and in the Rocky Mountains in Colorado and Utah. A. borealis has also been seen in British Columbia