''Agrostis capillaris'', the common bent, colonial bent, or browntop, is a

rhizomatous In botany and dendrology, a rhizome ( ) is a modified subterranean plant stem that sends out roots and shoots from its nodes. Rhizomes are also called creeping rootstalks or just rootstalks. Rhizomes develop from axillary buds and grow hori ...

and stoloniferous

perennial In horticulture, the term perennial ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the year") is used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. It has thus been defined as a plant that lives more than 2 years. The term is also ...

in the grass family (

Poaceae Poaceae ( ), also called Gramineae ( ), is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos, the grasses of natural grassland and species cultivate ...

). It is native to

Eurasia Eurasia ( , ) is a continental area on Earth, comprising all of Europe and Asia. According to some geographers, Physical geography, physiographically, Eurasia is a single supercontinent. The concept of Europe and Asia as distinct continents d ...

and has been widely introduced in many parts of the world. Colonial bent grows in moist

grasslands A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominated by grasses (Poaceae). However, sedge ( Cyperaceae) and rush ( Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes such as clover, and other herbs. Grasslands occur ...

and open

meadows A meadow ( ) is an open habitat or field, vegetated by grasses, herbs, and other non-woody plants. Trees or shrubs may sparsely populate meadows, as long as they maintain an open character. Meadows can occur naturally under favourable condition ...

, and can also be found in agricultural areas, roadsides, and invading disturbed areas. The name ''

Agrostis ''Agrostis'' (bent or bentgrass) is a large and very nearly Cosmopolitan distribution, cosmopolitan genus of plants in the Poaceae, grass family, found in nearly all the countries in the world. It has been bred as a Genetically modified organis ...

'' comes from the

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

word meaning

forage Forage is a plant material (mainly plant leaves and stems) eaten by grazing livestock. Historically, the term ''forage'' has meant only plants eaten by the animals directly as pasture, crop residue, or immature cereal crops, but it is also used m ...

plant, ''agros'' meaning "a field". It is found growing in neutral to acidic soils. It has a very fine texture and like most bent grasses grows very dense. Although this species is used on golf courses, providing some of the best ball playing surfaces in the world, it also produces a spectacular visual appearance when maintained properly. It provides an excellent home lawn but is not tolerant of heavy use. Colonial bent is fairly easy to grow from seeds and fertilization of the lawn is not as intense. This grass also takes longer to establish than creeping bent. However, it does not require the intense maintenance. Many internet sources describe it as being the tallest of the bent species. However, C. E. Hubbard describes its height as ranging from 10 to 70 cm high, whereas the black bent '' Agrostis gigantea'' is 40 to 120 cm. Marjorie Blamey, Richard and Alastair Fitter also describe black bent as being taller.

Description

It forms a dense sward of fine leaves. The

ligule A ligule (from "strap", variant of ''lingula'', from ''lingua'' "tongue") is a thin outgrowth at the junction of leaf A leaf (: leaves) is a principal appendage of the plant stem, stem of a vascular plant, usually borne laterally above g ...

is short and does not come to a point. This differs from creeping bent, ''

Agrostis stolonifera ''Agrostis stolonifera'' (creeping bentgrass, creeping bent, fiorin, spreading bent or carpet bentgrass) is a perennial grass species in the family Poaceae. It is widely used as turf for golf courses. Description ''Agrostis stolonifera'' is st ...

'' in which it is pointed and up to 5mm long. The flowering

panicle In botany, a panicle is a much-branched inflorescence. (softcover ). Some authors distinguish it from a compound spike inflorescence, by requiring that the flowers (and fruit) be pedicellate (having a single stem per flower). The branches of a p ...

s appear from May until June. They are finely branched and look like a purple haze from a distance. The panicle persists in winter after the seeds have been shed.

Environmental conservation

''Agrostis capillaris'' forms a constituent of

purple moor grass and rush pastures Purple moor grass and rush pastures is a type of Biodiversity Action Plan habitat in the UK. It occurs on poorly drained neutral and acidic soils of the lowlands and upland fringe. It is found in the southwest of England, especially in Devon. ...

, a type of Biodiversity Action Plan habitat in the UK. This habitat occurs on poorly drained neutral and acidic soils of the lowlands and upland fringe, and can be found in the south-west of England, especially in

Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

. It is found on upland pastures throughout the UK.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q159717 capillaris Grasses of Asia Grasses of Europe Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus