Introductory
SPECIES: Agrostis gigantea | Redtop 



ABBREVIATION : 
AGRGIG

SYNONYMS : 
   Agrostis alba auct. non L. [64,65]
   Agrostis alba var. alba L. [30]
   Agrostis stolonifera var. major (Gaudin) Farw. [23,42]


SCS PLANT CODE : 
   AGGI2


COMMON NAMES : 
   redtop
   meadow redtop


TAXONOMY : 
The currently accepted scientific name for redtop is Agrostis gigantea
Roth (Poaceae) [22,28,33,34].

There is considerable taxonomic confusion concerning this species.  In
the literature, the most commonly used scientific name for redtop is A.
alba L.  However, Linnaeus based his A. alba on a Poa species; the A.
alba in the literature is not the A. alba of Linnaeus [8].  In order to
escape this confusion, some authors have dropped the name A. alba but
have not reached a consensus on a new name.  Redtop is often regarded
merely as the nonstoloniferous, mostly rhizomatous variety of the
morphologically variable creeping bentgrass (A. stolonifera) [23,42].
And conversely, creeping bentgrass is sometimes considered a variety of
A. alba [30,36].  Most literature referring to either A. alba or A.
stolonifera does not distinguish between the two species, and it is
generally impossible to determine which species the literature is
referring to.  This writeup summarizes literature that refers to A.
gigantea, A. alba, and A.  stolonifera var. major.


LIFE FORM : 
Graminoid

FEDERAL LEGAL STATUS : 
No special status

OTHER STATUS : 
NO-ENTRY


COMPILED BY AND DATE : 
Jennifer H. Carey, September 1995


LAST REVISED BY AND DATE : 
NO-ENTRY


AUTHORSHIP AND CITATION : 
Carey, Jennifer H. 1995. Agrostis gigantea. In: Remainder of Citation

Related categories for Species: Agrostis gigantea | Redtop