Species

Agrostis stolonifera

Etymology

Agrostis: Greek name for a kind of grass

Common Name(s)

creeping bent

Authority

Agrostis stolonifera L.

Family

Poaceae

Brief Description

A sprawling mat-forming grass with creeping stems, sometimes submerged in fast-flowing water, with fine many-branched flowerheads, either open or narrow depending on flowering stage.

Flora Category

Vascular - Exotic

NVS Species Code

AGRSTO

The National Vegetation Survey (NVS) Databank is a physical archive and electronic databank containing records of over 94,000 vegetation survey plots - including data from over 19,000 permanent plots. NVS maintains a standard set of species code abbreviations that correspond to standard scientific plant names from the Ngä Tipu o Aotearoa - New Zealand Plants database.

Structural Class

Grasses

Distribution

Common throughout.

Habitat

Wide variety of wetland and aquatic habitats, also in drier habitats including roadsides, wasteland, grassland and open scrub. Lowland to subalpine.

Features

Sprawling stoloniferous, rooting at the nodes, mat or turf forming grass, 30-60 (100) cm tall. Can be submerged in clear fast-flowring streams/rivers. Leaf blade 1-20 cm long and 1-8 mm wide with an acute tip. Ligule 2-6 mm long, membranous. The flower heads are usually upright or bending upwards in a many-flowered open or contracted panicle 3-28 × 0.5-2.5-(6) cm.

Similar Taxa

There are several similar sprawling wetland/aquatic grasses. Paspalum distichum has a shorter ligule and paired flower heads, Glyceria species have a boat-shaped leaf tip and cross-veins on the leaf sheath and Alopecuris geniculatus is often acutely bent at the nodes and has a spike-like flower head.

Flowering

Spring and summer

Flower Colours

Green,Violet / Purple

Fruiting

Summer to autumn

Year Naturalised

1878

Origin

Europe, temperate Asia, N. America

Reason for Introduction

Pasture species.

Control Techniques

Can be controlled manually, mechanically or herbicidally depending on situation.

Life Cycle and Dispersal

Seed and stolons dispersed by water and contaminated machinery.

Attribution

Prepared by Paul Champion and Deborah Hofstra (NIWA)

References and further reading

Edgar E. and H. Connor. 2000. Flora of New Zealand. Volume 5. Manaaki Whenua Press: Lincoln, New Zealand.

Champion et al (2012). Freshwater Pests of New Zealand.  NIWA publication. http://www.niwa.co.nz/freshwater-and-estuaries/management-tools/identification-guides-and-fact-sheets/freshwater-pest-species

Johnson PN, Brooke PA (1989).  Wetland plants in New Zealand.   DSIR Field Guide, DSIR Publishing, Wellington. 319pp.

This page last updated on 31 Jul 2014