Holcus lanatus

Woolly honey grass ( Holcus lanatus )

The Woolly honey grass ( Holcus lanatus ) is a plant which belongs to the family of grasses ( Poaceae ). It is widespread in Eurasia and North Africa.

Regional Trivial names are Bottermeddel, Honigmeddel, honey Narrow, pain, Schmale Samet, Witten Meddel or sugar Schmale.

Description

The Woolly honey grass is a wintering green, perennial herbaceous plant that reaches the stature heights between 20 to 100 centimeters. All aboveground plant parts are densely hairy woolly. It grows loose to dichthorstig with erect or ascending stems of curved base. The lower part of the stalk reason is veined reddish-purple to whitish ground. The stalks are thin and have two to three fluffy hairy nodes.

The alternate leaves are distributed on the culm in leaf sheath and blade - structured Sheaths are rounded on the back, glabrous or slightly hairy, then with folded-back hair. The ligule ( ligules ) are membranous, fringed coarse, dull and about 1 to 5 millimeters long. The flat leaf blade is tapered with a length of 4 to 20 centimeters and a width of up to 10 millimeters. The leaves are very dense shorthaired therefore gray-green or whitish green looking.

The flowering period is between May and August. The white to purple, open only during the heyday of flower spikes are narrow -ovate or ovate, very tight to loose and up to 10 inches long. The panicle branches are hairy, densely branched. The oblong to elliptic, 4-6 mm long spikelets closed fall off when ripe. The spikelets are two flowered, the lower flower is hermaphrodite, the upper usually male. The papery glumes are as long as the spikelets are hairy and stiff keels and nerves. The bottom is narrow - lanceolate and einnervig; the upper ovate to elliptic, three annoying and usually with an approximately 1 millimeter long awn. The lemmas are between 2 and 2.5 mm long and are completely enclosed by the glumes. You are keeled upwards, indistinctly three - to five annoying, firm and glossy. The bottom is boat-shaped dull and awnless; the upper is awned on the back near the top. This is awn up to 2 millimeters long and curves in a dry state like a fish hook, but does not protrude from the spikelets produced. Are formed caryopses.

Possible confusion

Very similar is the total of sparse hairy honey soft grass ( Holcus mollis ). This grass has long, tough rhizomes and Halmknoten are hairy bearded. The guard hairs on the upper lemmas are only slightly curved and protrude from the glumes. The base of the stem is veined reddish- brown to brownish subsoil. In contrast to the woolly honey grass it grows preferentially on forest edges and light forest sites.

Ecology

In general, the common grass is considered as agricultural pasture weeds. On pasture and hay it is spurned by cattle, as it is very hairy. However, on poorer soils the young plants is to a certain income level.

The Woolly honey grass is a partially evergreen, frost- sensitive Hemikryptophyt and Horst plant. It is a Humuswurzler with VA mycorrhiza.

The flowers are self-sterile. Ecologically flowers are Windblütigkeit from " Hängeblütigen type ".

The diaspore ( unit propagation ) are at maturity falling as a whole spikelets; they propagate as wind spreaders, balloonists, swimmers, water Regenschwemmlinge and Misty. The up to 2 mm long awn of the upper lemma is curved like a fishhook in the dry state, thus allowing the spread of Velcro Misty. In addition, random propagation is carried out by grazing animals. The caryopses are light to germinate. Fruit ripening is from July to November.

Occurrence

The Woolly honey grass throughout Europe, widespread in temperate Asia and North Africa. It is now available in North America and other areas of the world with a temperate climate, a neophyte. It is often also in Germany and distributed throughout the plains to altitudes of about 900 meters.

It is relatively undemanding and grows on almost all dry to wet soils of heavy loams to sand. Its distribution area is located in wet meadows and pastures due to wet, humus-rich, moderately rich, slightly acidic loam and clay soils. At lower altitudes it is found mainly in marsh marigold meadows ( Calthion ). At higher altitudes it is to find a Glatthaferwiesen companies ( Molinio - Arrhenatheretea ). Sometimes it also grows in dwarf shrub heath and Nardus grasslands, arid and semi- arid grassland and in deciduous and coniferous forests on acidic, nutrient-poor soils. The species is Klassencharakterart the European Economic meadows and pastures economy, Molinio - Arrhenatheretea.

Pictures

Panicles at flowering time

Ligule

Stalk and leaf growth

Swell

• Erich Oberdorfer: Phytosociological Exkursionsflora. Assisted by Theo Müller. 7, revised and enlarged edition. Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart ( Hohenheim) 1994, ISBN 3-8252-1828-7.
• Henning Haeupler, Thomas Muer: Image Atlas of ferns and flowering plants in Germany. Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart 2000, ISBN 3-8001-3364-4.
• CE Hubbart: Grasses - Description, distribution, use. Ulmer Verlag, Stuttgart, 1985. ISBN 3-8001-2537-4.
• E. folding & WO v. Boberfeld: Paperback grasses. Detection, identification, location and socialization, evaluation and use. Verlag Paul Parey, Berlin, Hamburg, 1990. ISBN 3- 489-72710 -X
• Woolly honey grass. In: FloraWeb.de.