Agrostis bettyae

Agrostis bettyae S.W.L.Jacobs. Telopea
9:679(2001). Classification. (GPWG 2001) : Subfamily Pooideae.
Tribe Poeae.

Type of Basionym or
Protologue Information
: Australia: New South Wales: Southern Tablelands,
Tallong [as ?Tallwong], Jan 1900, W. Forsyth NSW-506461 (HT: NSW; IT:
US).

Recent synonyms:
sp.E of AusGrass; sp. F of AusGrass.

Key references
(books and floras):
[2002] D.Sharp & B.K.Simon, AusGrass, Grasses of
Australia
(& as A. sp. E and A. sp. F),
[2008] S.W.L.Jacobs, R.D.B.Walley & D.J.B.Wheeler, Grasses of New South
Wales
(109), [2009] A.Wilson (ed.). Flora of Australia, Vol 44A. Poaceae
2 (169).

Illustrations:
[2008] S.W.L.Jacobs, R.D.B.Whalley & D.J.B.Wheeler, Grasses of New South
Wales
, 4th edn (109).

Derivation:
named for Betty Jeanette Jacobs, wife of the author.

Habit.
Perennial. Rhizomes absent or present (short and horizontal), short. Culms
erect or geniculately ascending, stature slender to delicate, 90 cm tall, 4
-noded. Leaf-sheaths scaberulous (to scabrous between nerves). Ligule an
eciliate membrane, 2–5 mm long, lacerate. Leaf-blades flat or involute, 1.5–4
mm wide.

Inflorescence.
Inflorescence compound, a panicle. Panicle linear, 10–35 cm long.

Spikelets.
Fertile spikelets 1-flowered, comprising 1 fertile floret(s), laterally
compressed, 1.8–2.2 mm long.

Florets.
Fertile lemma 1.25–2 mm long. Lemma apex dentate, muticous. Palea absent.
Anthers 3.

Continental
Distribution
: Australasia.

Australian
Distribution
: Queensland, New South Wales.

Queensland:
Darling Downs. New South Wales: Northern Tablelands, Central Tablelands,
Southern Tablelands.

Notes.
This is the taxon described as A. sp. A by Jacobs & Hastings (1993).
Vickery at one stage considered naming this species A. neoanglica, but
eventually included in her concept of A. hiemalis (Vickery 1941). The
species presented here included a wider rage of material, including much from
outside the New England area. Agrostis betyae differs from A. scabra
in having the spikelets more clustered towards the ends of the branches, the
lower whorl of the branches being more divided and having longer anthers
(Jacobs 2001).

Endemic. Occurring in N.S.W. and
Qld. Grows in montane woodland. Flowers summer.

      

AVH 2011

Scratchpads developed and conceived by (alphabetical): Ed Baker, Katherine Bouton Alice Heaton Dimitris Koureas, Laurence Livermore, Dave Roberts, Simon Rycroft, Ben Scott, Vince Smith