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Anthoxanthum odoratum | |
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Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Monocots |
Clade: | Commelinids |
Order: | Poales |
Family: | Poaceae |
Subfamily: | Pooideae |
Genus: | Anthoxanthum |
Species: | A. odoratum |
Binomial name | |
Anthoxanthum odoratum | |
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 odoratum is Latin for 'odorous'.
Anthoxanthum odaoratum is a short-lived perennial grass that grows in tufts with stems up to 70 cm (28 in) tall. The leaves are short and broad, 3–5 mm (0.12–0.20 in) wide, and glabrous to loosely hairy. [3] : 306 It flowers in late spring and early summer, i.e. quite early in the season, with flower spikes of 4–6 centimetres (1.6–2.4 in) long and crowded spikelets of 6–10 mm (0.24–0.39 in), oblong shaped, which can be quite dark when young. The lower lemmas have projecting awns. The ligules are quite long, up to 5 mm (0.20 in), 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]
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]
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.
Hesperis matronalis is an herbaceous flowering plant species in the family Brassicaceae. It has numerous common names, including dame's rocket, damask-violet, dame's-violet, dames-wort, dame's gilliflower, night-scented gilliflower, queen's gilliflower, rogue's gilliflower, summer lilac, sweet rocket, mother-of-the-evening, Good & Plenties, and winter gilliflower.
Galium odoratum, the sweet woodruff or sweetscented bedstraw, is a flowering perennial plant in the family Rubiaceae, native to much of Europe from Spain and Ireland to Russia, as well as Western Siberia, Turkey, Iran, the Caucasus, China and Japan. It is also sparingly naturalised in scattered locations in the United States and Canada. It is widely cultivated for its flowers and its sweet-smelling foliage.
Myrrhis odorata, with common names cicely, sweet cicely, myrrh, garden myrrh, and sweet chervil, is a herbaceous perennial plant belonging to the celery family Apiaceae. It is the only species in the genus Myrrhis.
Narthecium ossifragum, commonly known as bog asphodel, Lancashire asphodel or bastard asphodel, is a species of flowering plant in the family Nartheciaceae. It is native to Western Europe, found on wet, boggy moorlands up to about 1,000 m (3,300 ft) in elevation. It produces spikes of bright yellow flowers in summer. The bright orange fruits have been used as a colourant to replace saffron by Shetland Islanders. Despite the plant's English name "bog asphodel", it is not particularly closely related to the true asphodels. In addition to other forms of pollination, this plant is adapted to rain-pollination. The Latin specific name ossifragum means "bone-breaker", and refers to a traditional belief that eating the plant caused sheep to develop brittle bones. The probable origin of this story is that sheep eating a calcium-poor diet are likely to develop bone weakness, and N. ossifragum favours acidic low-calcium soils.
Galium verum is a herbaceous perennial plant of the family Rubiaceae. It is widespread across most of Europe, North Africa, and temperate Asia from Israel, Lebanon and Turkey to Japan and Kamchatka. It is naturalized in Tasmania, New Zealand, Canada, and the northern half of the United States. It is considered a noxious weed in some places.
Malva moschata, the musk mallow or musk-mallow, is a species of flowering plant in the family Malvaceae, native to Europe and southwestern Asia, from Spain north to the British Isles and Poland, and east to southern Russia and Turkey. Growing to 60 cm (24 in) tall, it is a herbaceous perennial with hairy stems and foliage, and pink saucer-shaped flowers in summer.
Hierochloe is a genus of plants in the grass family known generally as sweetgrass. These are perennial rhizomatous grasses found primarily in temperate and subarctic regions of Eurasia and North America, although some species extend southwards into Australia and Latin America.
Hierochloe odorata or Anthoxanthum nitens is an aromatic herb native to northern Eurasia and North America. It is considered sacred by many Indigenous peoples in Canada and the United States. It is used as a smudge, in herbal medicine and in the production of distilled beverages. It owes its distinctive sweet scent to the presence of coumarin.
Anthoxanthum, commonly known as hornworts, vernal grasses, or vernalgrasses, is a genus of plants in the grass family. The generic name means 'Yellow flower' in Botanical Latin, referring to the colour of the mature spikelets.
Sagina subulata (, the heath pearlwort, Irish-moss, awl-leaf pearlwort or Scottish moss, is a species of flowering plant in the pink and carnation family Caryophyllaceae. It is native to Europe, from Iceland south to Spain, and east to southern Sweden and Romania. It occurs on dry sandy or gravelly soils.
Vicia sepium or bush vetch is a species of flowering plant in the pea and bean family Fabaceae. A nitrogen-fixing, perennial, leguminous climbing plant that grows in hedgerows, grasslands, the edges of woodland, roadsides and rough ground. It occurs in western Europe, Russia including Siberia, Crimea, Caucasus and Central Asia. It can also be found in eastern Canada, north-eastern states of the USA and, where suitable habitat occurs, in Greenland. It is native to, and has been recorded in, almost all parts of Britain, Ireland and associated islands.
Alopecurus aequalis is a common species of grass known as shortawn foxtail or orange foxtail. It is native to much of the temperate Northern Hemisphere from Eurasia to North America. It is most commonly found in areas near fresh water, such as the margins of ponds and ditches.
Odoratus is a Latin adjective meaning "fragrant, perfumed", and may refer to:
Omalotheca sylvatica, synonyms including Gnaphalium sylvaticum, is a species of plant in the family Asteraceae. It is commonly known as heath cudweed, wood cudweed, golden motherwort, chafeweed, owl's crown, and woodland arctic cudweed. It is widespread across the temperate Northern Hemisphere, throughout North America and Eurasia. The species was first formally described by Carl Linnaeus in 1753 as Gnaphalium sylvaticum.
Helictochloa pratensis, known as meadow oat-grass, is a species of perennial flowering plant in the grass family Poaceae, found in temperate parts of Europe and Asia. Its culms are erect and 30–85 cm long; leaves are mostly basal. It is restricted to shallow, calcareous soils such as those formed on chalk and limestone substrates.
Luzula pilosa is a species of flowering plant in the rush family Juncaceae with the common name hairy wood-rush. The plant is native to northern Europe and western Asia.
Hesperocodon hederaceus, synonym Wahlenbergia hederacea, also known as the ivy-leaved bellflower, is a species of flowering plant that is found throughout Europe. It is the only species in the genus Hesperocodon. The delicate, patch-forming, hairless perennial herb has thin, creeping stems about 20 cm in length. Its pale green leaves are long-stalked and have an ivy-shaped, rounded structure. These leaves can be described as having a cordate shape and are approximately 5–12 mm long and wide. The plant has erect, solitary, pale blue flowers in summer and autumn, with bell-shaped corolla with 5 short lobes. The flowers are 6–10 mm long x 5–8 mm wide and sit on fine stalks 1–4 cm long. It is suggested that the long pedicels are an adaptation to assist in seed dispersal.
Astragalus danicus, known as purple milk-vetch, is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae (legumes), which is native to Europe.
Trichophorum cespitosum, commonly known as deergrass or tufted bulrush, is a species of flowering plant in the sedge family. It was originally described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1753 as Scirpus cespitosus, but was transferred to the genus Trichophorum by the Swedish botanist Carl Johan Hartman in 1849, becoming Trichophorum cespitosum.
Clinopodium menthifolium, commonly known as the wood calamint or woodland calamint, is a species of flowering plant in the mint family, Lamiaceae. It is found throughout southern and central Europe from the United Kingdom and east as far as temperate parts of Asia, and as south as North Africa. It grows up to 1,700 m (5,600 ft) in elevation.