Biorepository Data Portal

FNA 2007, Field Guke to Forest & Mtn Plants of N AZ 2009, Jepson Herbaria-Berkeley, Ann. Checklist GCNP 1987

Common Name: Idaho bentgrass Duration: Perennial Nativity: Native Lifeform: Graminoid General: Perennial bunchgrass, stems 8-40 cm tall, erect with narrow leaves and with loose spreading panicles to 13 cm long. Vegetative: Non rhizomatous, stems cespitose slender and erect, stems 8-40 cm long, with 2-5 nodes, leaves mostly basal, mostly flat and glabrous, sheaths open, usually smooth, ligules 1-4 mm with rounded to truncate apices, blades 1-7 cm long, less than 2 mm wide. Inflorescence: Inflorescence an open panicle, panicles 3-13 cm long, 1-6 cm wide, lanceolate, lowest nodes have 1-6 branches, branches stiff and ascending, -branching at or above midlength,- pedicels 1-6 mm, spikelets lanceolate and purplish, glumes subequal, 1-2 mm long with one vein, usually scabridulous and with acute apices, lemmas 1-2 mm, 5-veined, apices acute and entire, paleas absent, anthers < 1 mm long. Ecology: Found in wet regions and bogs of alpine and subalpine meadows, also in wet openings of coniferous forests along with Sphagnum, in elevation above 3500 m, flowers July-August. Distribution: Found in all Western states Notes: Can be confused with A. mertensii and A. scabra, but it grows in wetter habitats than these species, and it is smaller than A. scabra, which has stems 15-90 cm tall. Ethnobotany: Unknown Etymology: Agrostis is from the Latin and Greek names for a type of grass, from Greek agron or agros, field or pasture, while idahoensis comes from the state of Idaho. Editor: Lkearsley2012