Agrostis stolonifera
Common names
creeping bent
Biostatus
Exotic
Category
Vascular
Structural class
Grasses
Simplified 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.
Flower colours
Green, Violet/Purple
Detailed description
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. Flower heads 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.
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.
Conservation status
Not applicable
Detailed taxonomy
Family
Ecology
Flowering
Spring and summer
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.
Wetland plant indicator status rating
Information derived from the revised national wetland plant list prepared to assist councils in delineating and monitoring wetlands (Clarkson et al., 2021 Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research Contract Report LC3975 for Hawke’s Bay Regional Council). The national plant list categorises plants by the extent to which they are found in wetlands and not ‘drylands’. The indicator status ratings are OBL (obligate wetland), FACW (facultative wetland), FAC (facultative), FACU (facultative upland), and UPL (obligate upland). If you have suggestions for the Wetland Indicator Status Rating, please contact: [Enable JavaScript to view protected content]
FACW: Facultative Wetland
Usually is a hydrophyte but occasionally found in uplands (non-wetlands).
Other information
Etymology
agrostis: Greek name for a kind of grass
NVS code
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.
AGRSTO
Referencing and citations
References and further reading
Edgar E, Connor HE. 2000. Flora of New Zealand. Vol. V. Grasses. Manaaki Whenua Press, Christchurch, NZ. 650 p.
Champion P. et al. 2020. Freshwater Invasive Species of New Zealand 2020. NIWA publication. https://docs.niwa.co.nz/library/public/FreInSpec.pdf
Johnson PN, Brooke PA. 1989. Wetland plants in New Zealand. DSIR Field Guide, DSIR Publishing, Wellington, NZ. 319 p.
Attribution
Prepared by Paul Champion and Deborah Hofstra (NIWA)