''Agrostis exarata'' is a species of

grass Poaceae () or Gramineae () is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos and the grasses of natural grassland and species cultivated in law ...

known by the common names spike bentgrass, spike bent, Pacific bentgrass, and spike redtop. It is native to western North America from Texas to the

Aleutian Islands The Aleutian Islands ( ; ; ale, Unangam Tanangin, "land of the Aleuts"; possibly from the Chukchi ''aliat'', or "island")—also called the Aleut Islands, Aleutic Islands, or, before 1867, the Catherine Archipelago—are a chain of 14 main, ...

Description

This is a common perennial grass reaching one to three feet in height with long, thin, flat leaves each with a

ligule A ligule (from "strap", variant of ''lingula'', from ''lingua'' "tongue") is a thin outgrowth at the junction of leaf and leafstalk of many Poaceae, grasses (Poaceae) and Cyperaceae, sedges. A ligule is also a strap-shaped extension of the corolla ...

of . The tuft inflorescence may be up to long and is usually dense with tiny spikelets.Jepson Manual Treatment
/ref> It reproduces mainly by seed, but it can also spread via rhizome. This

bunchgrass Tussock grasses or bunch grasses are a group of grass species in the family Poaceae. They usually grow as singular plants in clumps, tufts, hummocks, or bunches, rather than forming a sod or lawn, in meadows, grasslands, and prairies. As perenni ...

occurs in many plant communities in varied climates. It is considered good forage for livestock.

References

External links

Calflora Database: ''Agrostis exarata'' (Spike redtop, spike bentgrass)Jepson Manual eFlora (TJM2) treatment of ''Agrostis exarata''The Grass Manual on the Web: Treatment of ''Agrostis'' + ''Agrostis exarata''UC Photos gallery — ''Agrostis exarata''
exarata Bunchgrasses of North America Grasses of the United States Grasses of Canada Grasses of Mexico Native grasses of California Native grasses of Texas Flora of Northwestern Mexico Flora of the Western United States Flora of Western Canada Flora of Alaska Flora of the Cascade Range Flora of the Rocky Mountains Flora of the Sierra Nevada (United States) Natural history of the California chaparral and woodlands {{Pooideae-stub