Alpine ostrich grass

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Alpine ostrich grass
Alpine ostrich grass (Agrostis alpina), illustration

Alpine ostrich grass ( Agrostis alpina ), illustration

Systematics
Commelinids
Order : Sweet grass (Poales)
Family : Sweet grasses (Poaceae)
Subfamily : Pooideae
Genre : Ostrich grasses ( Agrostis )
Type : Alpine ostrich grass
Scientific name
Agrostis alpina
Scop.

The alpine ostrich grass ( Agrostis alpina ) is a species of the ostrich grass genus in the sweet grass family (Poaceae). The distribution area extends in Europe from Spain to Eastern Europe, there are also stocks in North Africa, where it grows in the alpine and subalpine altitude .

description

The alpine ostrich grass is persistent and grows in small clumps . It forms short subterranean runners . The renewal shoots grow upwards within the lowest leaf sheaths. The stalks are 10 to 35 centimeters long, two to three nodules, smooth and hairless. The leaf sheath is smooth or a little rough. The ligule of the renewal shoot is a 1 to 2 millimeter long, membranous border, that of the stalk leaves is up to 4 millimeters long. The leaf blades of the renewal shoot are 2 to 12 centimeters long, folded, bristle-shaped and 0.3 millimeters wide. If they are spread out, they are up to 0.8 millimeters wide. They are rough on the upper side on the ribs and the edges, the underside is smooth. The leaf blades of the stalk leaves are mostly flat, up to 1.5 millimeters wide, pointed and slightly downy hairy.

A 1 to 6 centimeter long, spread, loose and pyramidal panicle is formed as the inflorescence . The lower side branches are rough and go individually or in pairs, rarely in groups of three, from the smooth axis. The spikelets are single. They are single-flowered, stalked, golden brown and at least in the lower half of them dark purple and 3.5 to 5 millimeters long. During the ripening period , the florets fall out of the glumes that remain on the panicle. The upper and lower glume are almost the same, the lower one is (3 to) 3.5 to 4 millimeters long and lanceolate when viewed from the side, the upper one is 0.5 to 1 millimeter shorter. They are single-nerved, shiny, pointed and only rough on the keel. The callus of the florets has a tuft of hair 0.4 to 0.6 millimeters long. The lemma is five-nerved, stocky, 2.5 to 2.8 (to 3) millimeters long and keeled. It is cut off at the top and has two awning tips 0.1 to 0.3 millimeters long. The lower half is tinged with purple, smooth and bare, the upper half tender and rough. The lemma has a 5 to 6 millimeter long, kneeled awn on the back close to the base, the lower part of which is twisted. The palea reaches only a fifth of the length of the lemma. Two cavernous bodies are formed. The three anthers are 1.6 to 2 millimeters long. As fruits 1.5 to 1.7 millimeters long are caryopsis formed. The species blooms from July to September.

The number of chromosomes is 2n = 14.

Distribution and location requirements

The distribution area extends in Europe from the mountains of central Spain over the Pyrenees , the Alps , the northern Apennines to the Eastern Sudetes and the Carpathians . In Austria it occurs in all federal states with the exception of Vienna and Burgenland. There are also stocks in North Africa.

In the Alps, it grows at altitudes of up to 2500 meters in the subalpine and alpine levels , sometimes also in the foothills of the Alps down to 700 meters when it is washed down by streams. It can be found on patchy stone lawns, on heaps, pastures, hay fields, between dwarf shrubs and on mountain ridges exposed to the wind with only a short snow cover. It usually grows on dry, nutrient-rich and alkaline-rich, calcareous, neutral to moderately acidic, humus-rich loam soils . It thrives in societies of the Seslerietalia order, but also occurs in those of the Caricion curvulae association.

Systematics

The alpine ostrich grass ( Agrostis alpina ) is a species from the genus of the ostrich grass , which is assigned to the sweet grass family (Poaceae), subfamily Pooideae, Tribus Poeae and Untertribus Agrostidinae. It was first described in 1771 by the Italian-Austrian botanist Giovanni Antonio Scopoli in Flora Carniolica . Synonyms of the species are Agraulus alpinus (Scop.) P.Beauv. , Agraulus flavescens (Host) Sweet , Agrestis alpina (Scop.) Bubani , Agrostis flavescens Host , Agrostis montana Croquet. , Agrostis nevadensis var. Minor Boiss. , Agrostis rupestris var. Aurata (All.) Clairv. , Agrostis rupestris var. Aurata (All.) Gaudin , Avena aurata All. , Trichodium alpinum var. Flavidum Schur , Trichodium flavescens (Host) Schult. , Trichodium intermedium Hoppe ex Schult. and Trichodium rupestre Schrad.

It is similar to the rock ostrich grass ( Agrostis rupestris ), which also occurs in the Alps , but differs from it by the rough panicle branches.

The genus name Agrostis comes from the Latin agrostis denoting annoying weeds that grow in the fields. The specific epithet alpina refers to the occurrence in the alpine growth zone.

use

The alpine ostrich grass is a good fodder grass because of its long and juicy leaves, especially on sheep pastures.

swell

literature

  • Hans Joachim Conert: Parey's grass book. Recognize and determine the grasses of Germany . Parey, Berlin 2000, ISBN 3-8263-3327-6 , pp. 50, 51 .
  • Dietmar Aichele, Heinz-Werner Schwegler, Mark Bachofer: Our grasses. Over 400 color drawings . Updated 12th edition. Franckh-Kosmos, Stuttgart 2011, ISBN 978-3-440-12573-1 , p. 102 .
  • Manfred A. Fischer, Karl Oswald, Wolfgang Adler: Excursion flora for Austria, Liechtenstein and South Tyrol . 3rd, improved edition. Province of Upper Austria, Biology Center of the Upper Austrian State Museums, Linz 2008, ISBN 978-3-85474-187-9 , p. 1186 .
  • Helmut Genaust: Etymological dictionary of botanical plant names. 3rd, completely revised and expanded edition. Nikol, Hamburg 2005, ISBN 3-937872-16-7 , pp. 46, 53 (reprint from 1996).

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ German name after Conert: Pareys Gräserbuch , p. 52
  2. ↑ a b c d e Conert: Pareys Gräserbuch , p. 50
  3. ↑ a b c W. D. Clayton, M. Vorontsova, KT Harman, H. Williamson: Agrostis alpina. In: GrassBase - The Online World Grass Flora. Royal Botanic Gardens, accessed January 26, 2014 .
  4. ↑ Fischer et al .: Excursion flora for Austria, Liechtenstein and South Tyrol , p. 1186
  5. ^ Erich Oberdorfer : Plant-sociological excursion flora for Germany and neighboring areas . With the collaboration of Angelika Schwabe and Theo Müller. 8th, heavily revised and expanded edition. Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart (Hohenheim) 2001, ISBN 3-8001-3131-5 , pp.  252 .
  6. ^ Agrostis alpina in the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN), USDA , ARS , National Genetic Resources Program. National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland. Retrieved January 25, 2014.
  7. ↑ Agrostis alpina. In: The International Plant Name Index. Retrieved January 26, 2014 (English).
  8. ↑ Rafaël Govaerts (Ed.): Agrostis alpina. In: World Checklist of Selected Plant Families (WCSP) - The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew . Retrieved May 25, 2020.
  9. ↑ a b Aichele, Schwegler: Our grasses , p. 102
  10. ↑ Exactly: Etymological Dictionary of Botanical Plant Names , p. 46
  11. ↑ Exactly: Etymological Dictionary of Botanical Plant Names , p. 53

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