rootfast

Index / Search / Agrostis exarata

§1 Plant

Agrostis exarata Trin.

vernacular spike bentgrass — species · Poaceae

USDA
AGEX
GBIF
2706526
Rank
species
spike bentgrass (Agrostis exarata)
Platephotograph · Peter ZikaCC BY-NC source · iNaturalist ↗

§2Habit & range

Habit and range

Growth habit
Graminoid
Duration
Perennial
Group
Monocot
Family
Poaceae Barnhart
Genus
Agrostis
§2a

Native status, by region

  • AK Alaska Native
  • CAN Canada Native
  • L48 Lower 48 States Native
§2b

County-level range

· 273 counties across 18 states/territories
Legend Native · 273 Introduced · 0 Both · 0 Hover a county for detail.

§3Cultivation specs · USDA

Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.

§3a

Tolerances

Drought
Low
Shade
High
Moisture use
Medium
Fire
Medium
Salinity
Low
Anaerobic
Medium
CaCO₃
Low
Hedging
None
§3b

Climate & soil

Cold tolerance
-38 °F minimum
Frost-free days
90 min.
Precipitation
6–30 in/yr
pH range
5.5–7.5
Root depth
10 in min.
Fertility need
Medium
Soil texture
coarse, medium, fine
§3c

Form & growth

Growth form
Rhizomatous
Growth rate
Moderate
Lifespan
Moderate
Mature height
3 ft
Foliage texture
Medium
Foliage colour
Green
Porosity (summer)
Porous
Porosity (winter)
Porous
Flower colour
Yellow
Fruit colour
Brown
Fire resistant
No
N fixation
None
Toxicity
None
§3d

Reproduction

Bloom period
Late Spring
Seed abundance
Low
Seed begins
Summer
Seed ends
Summer
Spread rate
Slow
Stratify
No
Seeds / lb
5,600,000
Propagation
seed
§3e

Use & availability

Commercial availability
Contracting Only
Nursery stock
No
Browse palatability
Medium
Graze palatability
High
Palatable, human
No
Protein potential
Medium
Lumber
No
Christmas tree
No

§4Counties, by state

Recorded in 273 counties across 18 states/territories.

Alaska view state ↗ 19 N ▾
Arizona view state ↗ 12 N ▾
California view state ↗ 49 N ▾
Colorado view state ↗ 14 N ▾
Idaho view state ↗ 26 N ▾
Kentucky view state ↗ 1 N ▾
Montana view state ↗ 3 N ▾
Nebraska view state ↗ 8 N ▾
Nevada view state ↗ 14 N ▾
New Mexico view state ↗ 15 N ▾
Oklahoma view state ↗ 1 N ▾
Oregon view state ↗ 32 N ▾
South Dakota view state ↗ 3 N ▾
Texas view state ↗ 3 N ▾
Utah view state ↗ 22 N ▾
Vermont view state ↗ 1 N ▾
Washington view state ↗ 34 N ▾
Wyoming view state ↗ 16 N ▾

§5Sources & provenance

USDA PLANTS

Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.

plants.usda.gov/AGEX ↗

GBIF Backbone

Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.

gbif.org/species/2706526 ↗

Record version

Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:

usda-plants-mt-2026-05-26

fetched 2026-05-26T20:46:58Z