 Photo ©
Carl Farmer |
Common in heathery ground and dry moorland Stems c 20-50 cm tall. Spikelets c 2-3.5 mm long. Skye ID: Spikelets one-flowered. Outline of fully spread-out panicle triangular, not cylindrical as in A stolonifera. Ligules mostly well over 1 mm long, and pointed but often torn. Find some over 2 mm to rule out A capillaris. Best told from A canina by dryish habitat (wet for canina) and lack of creeping stolons, which are usually obvious on canina. Other features: Does not have creeping stems or green stolons, but spreads by root-like rhizomes. Panicle contracts after flowering. Spikelets usually have an awn. Panicle branches bare in lower part. For those with patience, lens and tweezers, palea is very small, much less than half size of lemma (this rules out A capillaris and A stolonifera, but not A canina) |