Vascular Plants of North Carolina
Section: Common Name: Scientific Name: Family:
Account for Upland Bentgrass - Agrostis perennans   (Walter) Tuckerman
Members of Poaceae:
Members of Agrostis with account distribution info or public map:
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Section 5 » Order Cyperales » Family Poaceae
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Author(Walter) Tuckerman
DistributionThroughout the state except the Outer Banks/barrier islands. No doubt present in every county.

Newf. to MN south to FL and TX; Mex. to central South America.
AbundanceCommon statewide, though rare to absent coastally on barrier islands.
HabitatMost often seen on stream and river banks, seepage bogs, montane bogs, and swamp forests; also mesic to moist upland woodlands, clearings, and disturbed areas.
PhenologyFlowering and fruiting August-October.
IdentificationThis is a pale and wispy grass of the autumn season. Upland Bentgrass has narrower inflorescences than our 3 common native species of bentgrass (A. elliottiana, A. hyemalis, and A. scabra), and about twice the length and width of the inflorescence of the very rare A. mertensii.
Taxonomic CommentsA. altissima has been pulled out of this species (broad sense) by some recent authors, including Weakley (2018) and this website. Others still retain that as a variety (elata), and thus this taxon (perennans) is listed as A. perennans var. perennans.

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)Autumn Bentgreas
State RankS5
Global RankG5
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B.A. SorrieNear Solomon's Creek, Piedmont portion of county, Oct 2015. RichmondPhoto_natural
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