Bent Grasses - Agrostis spp

Bent Grasses Agrostis spp get their name from the way the plants shoot along laterally spreading roots. The flowers are formed on loose spreading panicles which often become more compact once the seeds have set. To identify them to species level you need to use a good field guide or key such as the Colour Identification Guide to the Grasses, Sedges, Rushes and Ferns of the British Isles and north-western Europe by Francis Rose. As with many grasses it is important to look at the ligule (the small flap inside the leaf blade where it meets the stem) and match it to the illustrations in your field guide to get to a species identification.

Velvet Bent Grass Agrostis canina: Grows in tufts, 20 - 60 cm tall. Bright green, narrow, rough leaves usually rolled in on themselves. The ligules are pointed. Quite common, occurring in damp or boggy acid grassland and wet woodland paths. Flowers June to August. Below, photographed in the draw down zone of the Etang de la Ribaloche in the Foret de Preuilly, June.