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• Dichotomous Key
• Poaceae
• Poaceae Group 3
• Avenula
• Avenula pubescens

Avenula pubescens — downy alpine oat grass

Facts

Downy alpine oat grass, native to Europe and Central Asia, is introduced in Canada and some northern states of the United states. Straw from this grass was found lining the shoes of the Iceman (dubbed "Outzi"), a Neolithic man found in 1991, who had been frozen in the ice of the Austrian alps for some 5000 years.

Habitat

Anthropogenic (man-made or disturbed habitats), meadows and fields

Characteristics

• Flowers

  Anther length

  5–7 mm

  Anther number

  3

  Bristles below spikelets

  no

  Floret lower bract texture

  the lemma is thin and flexible

  Floret number

  2

  Floret types within spikelet

  all the florets within a spikelet are similar

  Glume keel

  the glume keels are rough or hairy

  Glume relative length

  one or both glumes are as long or longer than all of the florets

  Glume veins

  • 1
  • 3

  Inflorescence arrangement

  the spikelets are uniform

  Inflorescence axis orientation

  • the inflorescence axis bends downwards or hangs
  • the inflorescence axis is straight

  Inflorescence branch length

  0.4–3.5 cm

  Inflorescence branches

  the flowers are attached to branches rather than to the main axis of the inflorescence

  Inflorescence length

  60–200 mm

  Inflorescence length to width ratio

  3–3.3

  Inflorescence type (general)

  the spikelets are borne on stalks or on branches

  Inflorescence type (specific)

  the inflorescence is branched, and the branches do NOT both grow from the same side of the plant AND look like spikes

  Inflorescence width

  20–60 mm

  Inforescence position

  the spikelets are mainly carried at the end of the stem

  Lemma awn base

  • the awn is attached at the lower half of the lemma (it emerges from near the base of the lemma)
  • the awn is attached at the upper half of the lemma

  Lemma awn coiled

  the lemma awn is straight or twisted, but not coiled one half turn

  Lemma awn length

  12–26 mm

  Lemma awn number

  the lemma has one awn on it

  Lemma awn orientation

  the awn of the lemma on dried or older plants is curved or bent outwards

  Lemma base hair length

  2–5 mm

  Lemma base hairs

  the lemma has hairs at the base

  Lemma surface

  the surface of the lemma is relatively smooth (not counting any longitudinal veins or hairs)

  Lemma tip

  the lemma tip is split into two or more points

  Lemma tip shape

  the lemma tip tapers to a broad point (it may or may not also have an awn or teeth at the tip)

  Lower glume length

  7–20 mm

  Lower glume relative length

  the lower glume is one third to three quarters as long as the upper glume

  One or more florets

  there is more than one floret per spikelet

  Palea length

  8–12 mm

  Palea relative length

  palea is one half to fully as long as lemma

  Spikelet axis tip

  there is an extension of the spikelet axis beyond the tip of the spikelet

  Spikelet disintegration

  the spikelet breaks off above the glumes, so that after the florets fall off, the glumes remain

  Spikelet length

  10–26 mm

  Spikelet number per node

  0

  Spikelets per panicle branch

  1–4

  Spikelets spiny

  the spikelets do not appear spiny

  Upper glume length

  10–26 mm

  Upper glume relative length

  the upper glume is more than one half as long as the lowest lemma

  Upper glume shape

  the upper glume is widest at or below the middle

• Growth form

  Horizontal rooting stem

  yes

  Lifespan

  the plant lives more than two years

• Leaves

  Leaf auricles

  the leaves do not have auricles

  Leaf basal lobe hairy

  NA

  Leaf blade hairs

  the leaf blade is hairy

  Leaf blade length

  10–40 cm

  Leaf blade width

  2–6 mm

  Leaf ligule length

  5–8 mm

  Leaf ligule type

  the leaf ligule is in the form of a membrane

  Leaf margin glands

  there are no glands along the edges of the leaf blade

  Leaf sheath closed around stem

  the margins of the leaf sheath are fused together and form a closed tube except (possibly) at the very top

• Place

  Habitat

  terrestrial

  New England state

  • Connecticut
  • Massachusetts
  • Rhode Island

  Specific habitat

  • man-made or disturbed habitats
  • meadows or fields

• Stem, shoot, branch

  Plant height

  30–110 cm

  Stem orientation

  the stems are upright

  Stem spacing

  the stems grow close together in compact clusters or tufts

Wetland status

Not classified

New England distribution and conservation status

From the dichotomous key of Flora Novae Angliae