Velvet Bentgrass
Scientific Name: Agrostis canina L.
Family: Poaceae
MORPHOLOGY
Growth habit and size: It is a perennial plant, with stolons but no rhizomes, reaching heights between 20 and 60 cm tall.
Stem: Ascending, robust stem.
Leaves: The leaf blades are 2-15 cm long and 1-3 mm wide, with an acute or acuminate ligule up to 4 mm long.
Flowers: The inflorescence is a wide panicle with spreading, robust branches, 3-16 cm long and up to 7 cm wide, with rough branches. Each spikelet is 1.9-2.5 mm long. The flowers are bisexual and wind-pollinated. It blooms from May to July.
Fruits and seeds: The seed is a caryopsis or achene, united to the pericarp, and the fruit is enclosed in a glume, which helps it to be carried away by the wind for a certain distance.
DISTRIBUTION AND HABITAT
Widespread throughout Italy except for Sicily, Puglia, and Molise, from sea level up to 1,500 m. It prefers moist environments and riverbanks.
Photo: Freely licensed by Saxifraga, Rutger Barendse, Hans Boll.



















