Anthoxanthum odoratum

Classification System: APG IV

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Regnum: Plantae
Cladus: Angiosperms
Cladus: Monocots
Cladus: Commelinids
Ordo: Poales

Familia: Poaceae
Subfamilia: Pooideae
Tribus: Aveneae
Subtribus: Anthoxanthinae
Genus: Anthoxanthum
Species: Anthoxanthum odoratum
Name

Anthoxanthum odoratum L.
References

Linnaeus, C. 1753. Species Plantarum. Tomus I: 28. Reference page.
USDA, ARS, Germplasm Resources Information Network. Anthoxanthum odoratum in the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN), U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service.
USDA, NRCS. 2006. The PLANTS Database, 6 March 2006 (http://plants.usda.gov). Data compiled from various sources by Mark W. Skinner. National Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge, LA 70874-4490 USA.

Vernacular names
беларуская: Пахучакаласнік духмяны
Deutsch: Gewöhnliches Ruchgras
English: Sweet vernal grass
eesti: Lõhnav maarjahein
suomi: Tuoksusimake
français: Flouve odorante
galego: Lesta
Nederlands: Gewoon Reukgras
polski: Tomka wonna
svenska: Vårbrodd

Anthoxanthum odoratum, known as sweet vernal grass, is a short-lived perennial 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'.

Description

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]
Distribution

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]
Cultivation
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.

References

"Anthoxanthum odoratum L. | Plants of the World Online | Kew Science".
"Anthoxanthum odoratum". Online Atlas of the British and Irish flora. Retrieved 2 April 2021.
Cope, Tom; Gray, Alan (2009). Grasses of the British Isles, BSBI Handbook N0. 13. London: Botanical Society of the British Isles (now Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland). ISBN 978-0-901158-420.
BSBI Description Archived 2011-07-17 at the Wayback Machine retrieved 10 December 2010.
"Parapatric speciation". University of California Berkeley. Retrieved 3 April 2017.
Janis Antonovics (2006), "Evolution in closely adjacent plant populations X: long-term persistence of prereproductive isolation at a mine boundary", Heredity, 97 (1): 33–37, doi:10.1038/sj.hdy.6800835, PMID 16639420, S2CID 12291411

"Anthoxanthum odoratum". Online atlas of the British and Irish flora. Biological Records Centre and Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland. Retrieved 9 October 2021.

Further reading
Pink, A. (2004). Gardening for the Million. Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation.