| Author | (Walter) Britton, Sterns, & Poggenburg | |
| Distribution | Throughout the state, with small and probably meaningless gaps; rare on the Outer Banks (a 1933 specimen from Kitty Hawk in Dare County). Probably occurs in every county.
ME to WI south to FL and TX. | |
| Abundance | Frequent to common throughout the state. | |
| Habitat | Dry to moist fields, meadows, roadsides, powerlines, along railroads, waste ground. | |
| Phenology | Flowering and fruiting March-June (July). | |
| Identification | In the spring, dense populations of this species cast a pale rosy tint. The broad and open inflorescence is about half the entire height of the plant. From A. elliottiana, it differs in having 3 anthers (vs. 1), is perennial (vs. annual), and has lemmas without awns (vs. awns 4-10 mm long). It is very similar to A. scabra, but it flowers earlier (March-June vs. June-October in that species), and usually inhabits drier soils. | |
| Taxonomic Comments | None
Bentgrasses, genus Agrostis, in NC are usually densely cespitose (many stems and basal leaves from a central area). Most leaves are basal, rather short, and slender, often folded lengthwise or involute (rounded in cross-section). Stem leaves are few in number. The inflorescence is open and airy or wispy, with 2-several branches from well-spaced nodes; towards their ends, these branches are again branched and support the spikelets. Spikelets each contain only a single floret, with 2 glumes (outer scale-like bodies) and one lemma (inner scale-like body) and a central fruit or seed. Glumes and lemmas are sharp pointed. Lemmas may or may not have a projecting awn. In grasses, the fruit is called a caryopsis or a grain; it is composed of the seed and a tightly fitting envelope (or pericarp). | |
| Other Common Name(s) | Ticklegrass -- so named because the fine inflorescences tickle the skin as one walks through. | |
| State Rank | S5 | |
| Global Rank | G5 | |
| State Status | | |
| US Status | | |
| USACE-agcp | FAC link |
| USACE-emp | FAC link |
