Water Bent

Water Bent photos

Family: Grass (Poaceae syn. Gramineae)

Scientific Name:

Polypogon viridis (Agrostis viridis, Agrostis semiverticillata)

Water Bent plants
Photo: A J Brown

Status:

Native to the Mediterranean region.

Plant Description:

Perennial grass with stolons (above-ground, trailing stems that root at their nodes). Erect stems to 100 cm high with hairless but rather rough, flat leaves to 15 cm long and 5 mm wide. Flower-heads are rather dense panicles to 12 cm long and 4 cm wide with a somewhat lobed appearance due to clustering of the spikelets towards the base of the branches. Spikelets are single flowered, each floret about 1 mm long, without hairs or awns.

Habitat:

Occasional across southern Victoria, on damp to wet sites, including roadside drains and irrigation ditches.

Region	Salinity Class	Waterlogging Class
Western, Gippsland	S0	W2, W3

Comments:

This species has always been difficult to place taxonomically as it has the general appearance of a Bent Grass (Agrostis) but the seed dispersal of a Beard-grass (Polypogon). Like Annual Beard-grass (Polypogon monspeliensis), the spikelets of Water-bent fall as a whole when mature, whereas the flower-heads of the Bent Grasses discard the florets only, leaving the glumes behind. Water Bent is most similar to Creeping Bent (Agrostis stolonifera) which differs in having a more open flower-head and slightly larger florets.

Water Bent photos

Flower-head of Water Bent
Photos: A J Brown

Water Bent spikelets
Photo: A J Brown

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