BOTANICAL AND ECOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS
SPECIES: Agrostis stolonifera | Creeping Bentgrass 



GENERAL BOTANICAL CHARACTERISTICS : 
Creeping bentgrass is a stoloniferous perennial, and is sometimes
mat-forming or tufted [19,21,22,23,44].  Culms are prostrate, usually
1.3 to 3.3 feet (0.4-1 m) long [19,21,26,41].  The blades are flat to
folded, 0.08-inch to 0.4-inch (2-10 mm) wide, and 0.8 to 4 inches (2-10
cm) long [23,26].  The panicle is open to somewhat narrow, and up to 16
inches (40 cm) tall [59].


RAUNKIAER LIFE FORM : 
   Hemicryptophyte
   Geophyte


REGENERATION PROCESSES : 
Creeping bentgrass reproduces by seed and by stolons [14,53].  It can
set seed in one growing season, thus sometimes functioning as an annual.
In southern Ontario, creeping bentgrass seed has a 52 percent
germination rate after 30 days under approximate optimal germination
conditions; seeds were cold stratified for 9 months prior to planting
[53].  Grasses in the genus Agrostis are seed-banking species [60].  In
pastures and meadows of Europe, creeping bentgrass seeds can survive in
the soil for at least 1 year [48].  In a northern subarctic community in
Manitoba, Canada, creeping bentgrass is a persistent perennial that
spreads vegetatively to form clumps or large patches but sometimes fails
to reproduce by seed, although flowering is observed [53].


SITE CHARACTERISTICS : 
Creeping bentgrass occurs in a wide variety of habitats including
woodlands, forest openings, grasslands, shrublands, prairies, sandhills,
meadows, marshes, bogs, vernal pools, and stream and lake margins
[7,9,30,35,36,59].  It is most commonly found in moist places such as
recently exposed sand and gravel bars, wet meadows, and along streams
[4,22,23,24,34].  Creeping bentgrass grows on disturbed sites such as
in ditches or along roadsides, and in pastures and hayfields
[19,23,44,58].  It also grows in salt marshes [7,61].

Creeping bentgrass grows best on moist to semiwet soils, but is
tolerant of poorly drained and subirrigated conditions, submergence,
and frequent flooding [4,24].  It grows best on loam, clay-loam, and
sandy soils, but occurs on gravelly and rocky substrates as well
[4,6,15,24].  It is moderately tolerant of drought [4].

Elevations for creeping bentgrass for several states and provinces are
as follows:  

         Montana      2,800-7,000 feet     (854-2,134 m) [4,24]
         Idaho        6,600-7,920 feet     (2,000-2,400 m) [10]
         Oregon       6,680 feet           (2,036 m) [15]
         Nevada       6,400-8,480 feet     (1,950-2,585 m ) [36]
         Utah         3,234-10,065 feet    (980-3,050 m) [41]
         California   less than 3,300 feet (<1000 m) [26]
         Ontario      990 feet             (300 m) [5]


SUCCESSIONAL STATUS : 

Facultative Seral Species

Creeping bentgrass is generally a pioneer or invader species [4,15,36],
but is tolerant of semishaded environments [62].  It is a facultative
wetland species in Montana and California [36,46].  It is a member of
the creeping bentgrass community type in riparian areas of Montana that
will eventually be taken over by later successional species [4,24].
Creeping bentgrass may persist under a regime of repeated fluvial
disturbance in wetland riparian areas of Montana [25].  In Oregon,
creeping bentgrass is an early successional species that colonizes
low-lying gravel bars and newly formed depositional surfaces [15].  In
Nevada, it is an increaser on moist sites; the creeping bentgrass
community type probably resulted because of past heavy grazing levels.
It may have replaced communities dominated by tufted hairgrass [36].


SEASONAL DEVELOPMENT : 
Creeping bentgrass flowers from June to August in the Upper Great Plains
[21].  It flowers from June to October in the Carolinas [44].

Related categories for Species: Agrostis stolonifera | Creeping Bentgrass