Flora of Ashdown Forest - Botanical Society of the British Isles

Agrostis gigantea. Black bent.Tetrad 42E (Hall 1980).Mainly recorded in 1993-1994 from road sides by TR or AK, as robust plants on vergesrather than as the arable weed form. Some road verge plants could be A. caste/lana I whichis regularly sown on new verges, and need re-checking.Oddly more frequent in West than East Sussex, presumably related to differences inrecording by botanists. Increasing in England (Rich & Woodruff 1996). Widespread insouthern Britain and Europe.4 5215Agrostis stolonifera. Creeping bent.,--..,.---------,-, Common on richer soils around car parks and on footpaths, but rare on open rides.This is a very variable species, with many different genotypes adapted to differenthabitats (Kik et aI1990). For instance plants with a few, long, thick 8tolons occurred in aproductive meadow, and plants with short thin stolons occurred in saltmarshes. There were3also differences in variation within populations, with least variation present in the meadow4 5as the inflorescences were usually grazed off and reproduction was mainly clonal vegetativespread of a few large clones.Recorded in 95% of the tetrads in Sussex (Hall 1980). Widespread in Britain andEurope.[Agrostis curtisii (A. setaceaj. Bristle bent.Noted in error and later corrected by W. H. Coleman (Rich 19941.1Agrostis canina sensu lata.Ashdown Bog, 1939, G. E. Shaw (TLS). Frequent on the Forest (Hall 1980).Represented by both A. canina sensu stricto, velvet bent, and A. vinealis fA. canina subsp. montanaJ, brown bent,which are mapped separately, though both are under-recorded by comparison with the aggregate. Both are quitewidespread in Sussex and Britain.A. canina s.s. occurs most typically in wet flushes and seasonally-inundated ponds, and is distinctive in formingmats of fine, grey leaves. It occurs throughout most of Europe, temperate Asia and north-east America.A. vinealis is more common in dryer grassland and may have been as abundant as A. capillaris when the Forest wasgrazed. It occurs mainly in north-west and central Europe, and temperate Asia.Agrostis canina s.l. A, canina s.s. A. vinealis34 5 4 5 4 5Alopecurus pratensis. Meadow foxtail.Frequent on the Forest (Hall 1980).Recorded on roadsides and verges, wet pastures and meadows. A robust grass whichis one of the first to flower in the year and is easily overlooked at the end of the season.Widespread in Sussex and increasing in England (Rich & Woodruff 1996). Widespreadin Britain, Europe and North Asia.4 5