Anthoxanthum odoratum
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Anthoxanthum odoratum is a short-lived perennial grass, commonly known as sweet vernal grass, that is native to acidic grassland in Eurasia and northern Africa.[1][2] It is grown as a lawn grass and a house plant, due to its sweet scent, and can also be found on unimproved pastures and meadows. The specific epithet Script error: No such module "Lang". is Latin for 'odorous'.
Description
Anthoxanthum odaoratum is a short-lived perennial grass that grows in tufts with stems up to Script error: No such module "convert". tall. The leaves are short and broad, Script error: No such module "convert". wide, and glabrous to loosely hairy.[3]Template:Rp It flowers in late spring and early summer, i.e. quite early in the season, with flower spikes of Script error: No such module "convert". long and crowded spikelets of Script error: No such module "convert"., oblong shaped, which can be quite dark when young. The lower lemmas have projecting awns. The ligules are quite long, up to Script error: No such module "convert"., blunt, with hairy fringes around the side.
The scent is particularly strong when dried, and is due to coumarin, a glycoside, and benzoic acid – it smells like fresh hay with a hint of vanilla. The seed head is bright yellow in color.[4]
Anthoxanthum odoratum is experiencing parapatric speciation in areas of mine contamination.[5][6]
Distribution
Anthoxanthum odoratum is native to Europe and temperate parts of Asia, but is widely introduced and naturalised so that distribution is now Circumpolar Wide-temperate.[7] It is ubiquitous at the 10 km square level in Britain.[7]
Cultivation
It is grown by scattering seed on tilled ground in the spring through fall, germinating in 4 to 5 days. It prefers sandy loam and acidic conditions (a low pH). As an agricultural grass it has a low yield, but can grow on land too acidic for other grasses.
Gallery
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References
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- ↑ BSBI Description Template:Webarchive retrieved 10 December 2010.
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Further reading
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