Giant ostrich grass
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Giant ostrich grass ( Agrostis gigantea ) |
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The giant ostrich grass ( Agrostis gigantea ), also known as Fiorin grass , is a species of the genus ostrich grass ( Agrostis ) within the sweet grass family (Poaceae).
description
Vegetative characteristics
The giant ostrich grass is a deciduous, perennial herbaceous plant and reaches heights of 40 to 120 sometimes up to 150 centimeters. It forms short, thick and tough underground runners ( rhizomes ) and therefore grows in small, dense clumps . Above-ground creeping instincts are missing. The three- to six-nodular, smooth stalks grow upright or ascending from a curved or prostrate base. They take root and branch out to the lower node ( Nodien ).
The leaf sheaths are rounded on the back, smooth or slightly rough. The leaf base is not extended into ears. The blunt and toothed ligule measures 1.5 to 6 millimeters in length. The 3 to 11 millimeters wide, 5 to 20 centimeters long and bare leaf blades are grooved on the top and dull on the underside. The leaf blades are thinly pointed, rolled when young and later flat.
Generative characteristics
The flowering period extends from late June to August. The very loose paniculate inflorescence, which is also open after the anthesis, is erect and elongated to ovoid with a length of 8 to 25 centimeters and a width of 3 to 15 centimeters. The green or purple panicles have many branches. The panicle branches are united in clusters. The rough stalks are 0.5 to 3 millimeters long. The numerous, single-flowered and laterally compressed spikelets are 2 to 3 millimeters long. The two perennial, one-nerved glumes are as long as the spikelets. The three- to five-veined lemmas are slightly shorter than the glumes, finely hairy at the base and awnless, rarely with a very short awn that comes off at or near the tip.
The number of chromosomes is 2n = 42.
ecology
The giant ostrich grass is a hemicryptophyte .
Distribution and location
The distribution area extends across Europe and through the temperate zones of Asia to North Africa. The giant ostrich grass is a neophyte in North America, Australia and New Zealand . In Germany it occurs scattered to widespread, in Austria scattered.
It settles from the colline to the subalpine altitude . The giant ostrich colonizes moist to wet, ground and seepage damp, nutrient and base-rich, moderately acidic sand, loam and clay soils . It grows in meadows, ruderal meadows and bank reed beds, furthermore in light forests and in logs. In the plant sociological system, the giant ostrich grass is a class characteristic of the grassland communities ( Molinio-Arrhenatheretea ), especially in the nutrient-rich wet meadow communities (Calthion), but also in reeds and large sedge swamps ( Phragmitetalia australis ).
Systematics
One can distinguish between two subspecies:
- Agrostis gigantea subsp. gigantea : It occurs from the temperate zones of Eurasia to North Africa.
- Agrostis gigantea subsp. maeotica (Klokov) Tzvelev : It occurs in southern Ukraine and in the Crimea.
use
The giant ostrich grass is of little agricultural value. It is a moderate forage grass and is usually not suitable for sowing . In Germany it is only recommended for wet meadows in sowing grassland . In the United States , the giant ostrich grass is grown for soil consolidation and hay extraction . The giant ostrich grass tends to become weed on light, sandy and gravelly soils.
Receipts and further information
literature
- Eckehart J. Jäger, Klaus Werner (Ed.): Excursion flora from Germany . Founded by Werner Rothmaler. 10th edited edition. tape 4 : Vascular Plants: Critical Volume . Elsevier, Spektrum Akademischer Verlag, Munich / Heidelberg 2005, ISBN 3-8274-1496-2 .
- Hans Joachim Conert: Parey's grass book. Recognize and determine the grasses of Germany . Parey, Berlin 2000, ISBN 3-8263-3327-6 .
- Charles Edward Hubbard: Grasses. Description, distribution, use (= UTB . Volume 233 ). 2nd, revised and expanded edition. Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart (Hohenheim) 1985, ISBN 3-8001-2537-4 (English: Grasses . Translated by Peter Boeker).
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d Rafaël Govaerts (ed.): Agrostis gigantea. In: World Checklist of Selected Plant Families (WCSP) - The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew . Retrieved May 25, 2020.
- ↑ Erich Oberdorfer : Plant-sociological excursion flora . With the collaboration of Theo Müller. 7th, revised and expanded edition. Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart (Hohenheim) 1994, ISBN 3-8252-1828-7 .
- ^ Ernst Klapp , Wilhelm Opitz von Boberfeld : Pocket book of grasses. Recognition and determination, location and socialization, evaluation and use . 13th revised edition. Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart (Hohenheim) 2006, ISBN 3-8001-4775-0 , p. 207 .
Web links
- Agrostis gigantea Roth, giant ostrich grass. In: FloraWeb.de.
- Giant ostrich grass . In: BiolFlor, the database of biological-ecological characteristics of the flora of Germany.
- Profile and distribution map for Bavaria . In: Botanical Information Hub of Bavaria .
- Agrostis gigantea Roth In: Info Flora , the national data and information center for Swiss flora . Retrieved September 29, 2015.
- Agrostis gigantea in the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN), USDA , ARS , National Genetic Resources Program. National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland. Retrieved September 29, 2015.
- Distribution in the northern hemisphere from: Eric Hultén, Magnus Fries: Atlas of North European vascular plants. 1986, ISBN 3-87429-263-0 at Den virtuella floran. (swed.)
- Thomas Meyer: Data sheet with identification key and photos at Flora-de: Flora von Deutschland (old name of the website: Flowers in Swabia )
- Michael Hassler, Bernd Schmitt: Data sheet: Agrostis gigantea ssp. gigantea AW Roth (giant ostrich grass, fioring grass) at Flora von Deutschland - A picture database , version 2.91.
