| Tasmania
has nine native and three introduced species of Agrostis
(bent grass). The characteristic features of this genus are
that the inflorescence is a panicle (usually with widely
spreading branches), the spikelets are small, flattened from
side to side and have only one flower, the glumes are quite
firm, the lemma and palea are membranous, and the palea is
either absent or considerably smaller than the lemma. The
native species are mostly of high altitude and well watered
areas (even extending into rainforest), but one or two
species occur in drier forests. The introduced species are
weeds mostly of roadsides and pastures.
Another nine native species formerly included in Agrostis
are now placed in Lachnagrostis.
These differ from Agrostis in having the palea
almost as long as the lemma.
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University of Tasmania
