BOTANICAL AND ECOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS
SPECIES: Agrostis scabra | Ticklegrass 



GENERAL BOTANICAL CHARACTERISTICS : 
Ticklegrass is a short-lived, perennial bunchgrass.  Culms are slender
and erect, and the basal leaves are often scabrous.  The panicle is
large and diffuse at maturity [1,10,30,47].  Ticklegrass is typically 6
to 39 inches (15-100 cm) tall [10,18,23] but often reaches 50 inches
(130 cm) in height [31,32].  The plant has a fibrous root system [48]
but is not rhizomatous [31].

Ticklegrass is often confused with winter bentgrass (A. hyemalis (Walt.)
B.S.P.), but the latter generally flowers earlier [13].


RAUNKIAER LIFE FORM : 
   Hemicryptophyte


REGENERATION PROCESSES : 
Ticklegrass reproduces primarly by seed but can spread laterally by
stolons.  The diffuse inflorescence breaks away at maturity and can be
dispersed over long distances by wind [15].  Seeds colonize recently
disturbed sites with exposed mineral soil seedbeds [22].


SITE CHARACTERISTICS : 
Ticklegrass occurs throughout a wide variety of habitats including
woodlands, forest openings, grasslands, shrublands, meadows, swamps,
bogs, marshes, and stream and lake margins [5,6,24,47].  It also grows
on disturbed sites, such as in ditches or along roadsides, and in
pastures or abandoned fields [14,24,28].  Ticklegrass occurs from sea
level to alpine zones [4,15,17].  It occupies sites as high as 12,000
feet (3,600 m) in Colorado [8].  Ticklegrass is tolerant of a wide range
of moisture regimes; it thrives in wet or moist soils and can survive
seasonal stem submergence [13,15,41].  Ticklegrass is also found in dry
habitats and is a common component of semiarid grasslands and sagebrush
communities [8,10,15,18].

Ticklegrass grows well on sandy loam, loam, and clay loam soil textures
[8].  It is adapted to soils that are low in nutrients and is tolerant
of low pH levels [15].  Ticklegrass shows poor growth in sodic soils
[8].


SUCCESSIONAL STATUS : 
Facultative Seral Species

Ticklegrass is generally a pioneer or invader species [11,15,22].  It is
relatively shade intolerant, and thrives in open, sunny locations [15].
Seed is widely dispersed by wind and requires bare mineral soil for
establishment; seedlings are common on recently disturbed sites [15,22].
Ticklegrass has invaded abandoned fields throughout prairie regions, and
barren sandy soils near Coniston, Ontario.  It is a pioneer of dry white
spruce (Picea glauca) sites near Norman Wells, Northwest Territories
[15], and clearcut jack pine (Pinus banksiana) sites in Saskatchewan
[7].

Once ticklegrass becomes established, it may remain important throughout
the early seral stages [22].  In boreal forest floodplain succession,
ticklegrass invades initially, and then endures through the early willow
stages [25,44].  Ticklegrass is also a component of near climax range
communities in Montana [36].  In the Sierra Nevada, California,
ticklegrass is an increaser species in climax meadow vegetation [33].


SEASONAL DEVELOPMENT : 
Ticklegrass flowers from June to September, depending on location
[8,10,13].  Seed is shed in late summer [41].

Related categories for Species: Agrostis scabra | Ticklegrass