Brachypodium pinnatum

Pinna - Zwenke ( Brachypodium pinnatum )

The pinna - Zwenke ( Brachypodium pinnatum ), actually Ordinary pinna - Zwenke, is a species of grass in the genus Zwenken ( Brachypodium ) within the Gramineae family. She is a strong competitive root Kriechpionier and settled mostly lean locations.

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Distribution and location

The range extends from Europe to North Africa to Southwest Asia. Neophyte deposits are also found in North America. In Germany, especially in the central part and the south spread to the mountains up to 1600 m. In the north of the Federal Republic, the species is rare or absent.

The pinna - Zwenke frequent and sociable grows in lime - poor grassland and extensive pastures, along roadsides and in open woods on open ground points. It prefers moderately fresh, nitrogen- poor, base -rich, often calcareous, moderately acidic, humus-rich loam and loess.

Description

The pinna - Zwenke is a perennial grass that stature heights between 40 and 100, sometimes reaches to 120 centimeters. The plant forms loose to dense clumps and spreads with wiry, scaly, underground runners from ( rhizomes ). The unbranched stems are bare. Sheaths are rounded on the back and also mostly bald, the bottom can also be hairy weak. The leaf blades are flat as little hairy - linear or rolled and from yellow -green to olive-green color. They are up to 45 cm long and 2 to 6, often up to 10 mm wide. They are gradually finely acuminate, flaccid, ciliated uneven and rough at the edge of the page. Rough on the bottom by numerous barbed hairs and dull. The membranous and obtuse ligule ( ligule ) reaches up to 2 millimeters in length and is finely ciliated on the edge.

The flower clusters are similar ears. This is sometimes erect or nodding, and 4 to 25 inches long. It carries three to 15 greenish or yellowish spikelets. The inflorescence axis is thin, reaching the stalks between 1 to 2 millimeters in length. The spikelets are cylindrical, lanceolate or narrowly oblong and take turns sitting on two opposite sides of the axis. You can reach about 2 to 4 inches long, rarely more, and are eight to zweiundzwanzigblütig. The flowers are usually solitary or in clusters of two to three. They break at the maturity of the lemmas. The glumes are lanceolate to narrowly ovate. They are pointed, rounded on the back and hairless. The lower reaches 3 to 5 millimeters in length and is three to six annoying; the top is 5 to 7 millimeters long and five to seven annoying. The seven annoying, smooth and glabrous, rarely short-haired, lemmas overlap and are also rounded on the back. They are oblong, acuminate, 6-10 mm long and have at the top a fine 1-5 mm long awn. The palea is as long as the lemmas. The two keels are covered with very fine hairs. The pinna - Zwenke blooms from June to August.

Socialization

The pinna - Zwenke is the Kennart Class Festuco - Brometea ( dry, semi- dry grasslands, basiphile Magerrasen ) with focal deposits in association Cirsio - Brachypodion and the Association Mesobromion erecti. It also has a major presence in the sublattice Cephalanthero - Fagenion within the mesophytic, buchenwald like deciduous forests of Europe ( Fagetalia sylvaticae ). Other major deposits are plant communities of the associations Erico - Pinion, Geranion sanguinei and dry configurations of Molinion caeruleae and the order Nardetalia.

Threats and conservation

The species is known worldwide as not endangered and enjoys no legal protection. However, it is in the Red Lists of threatened vascular plants of the federal states of Hamburg and Schleswig -Holstein performed as threatened with extinction.

Ecology

It is a semi-shade to semi - light plant. On shady locations it does not bloom. It grows mainly on nitrogen-poor to moderate nitrogen supplied soils. Furthermore, it is a default heat pointer, ie it has the heat gradient from the cold snowy ( nival ) height step up in warm lowlands a heavyweight in submontane - temperate areas.

The species is not eaten by cattle because of the rough leaves, hence it is ( Bromus erectus ) to displace mainly Bromus erectus in a position other grass species. Goats, however, eat the kind of liked.

Because of their deeply penetrating into the ground rhizomes it is well protected against fires sometimes occur. You can already cast out shortly after a fire from the underground Überdauerungsorganen again and settle as quickly freed from competing species faces themselves. It also contributes to soil consolidation and reduces erosion. In fallows on calcareous grasslands their hard decomposable stalks and leaves lead to entanglement of the sward and thus to a decrease of light-demanding species.

Swell