Details for: PI 634937, Anthoxanthum nitens (Weber) Y. Schouten & Veldkamp, Spirit


Summary Data
Taxonomy:
Anthoxanthum nitens (Weber) Y. Schouten & Veldkamp
Top Name:
Spirit
Origin:
Collected – Montana, United States
Received by NPGS:
May 2004
Improvement Status:
Cultivated material
Form Received:
Plant
Availability
FormQuantityNoteInventoryCart
Plant1 cuttingsPI 634937 2004o PL
Seed available for distribution is a limited resource. The quantity of seed distributed is hopefully sufficient to conduct the intended research. If additional seed is required, the recipient is urged to grow and reproduce the seed. Repeated requests for seed of the same accession will not be honored.
  
There are no images for this accession.

Core Passport Data
Taxonomy:
Anthoxanthum nitens (Weber) Y. Schouten & Veldkamp
Top Name:
Spirit
Origin:
Collected – Montana, United States
Received by NPGS:
May 2004
Improvement Status:
Cultivated material
Form Received:
Plant
Source History
Collected
21 October 1991.
Montana, United States
Locality: Toole county, T37NR3E section 24
Environment description: Silty clay loam soil, 5% slope, west aspect

Collector(s):
Developed
PRE April 2004.
Montana, United States

Developer(s):
Donated
May 2004.
Montana, United States

Donor(s):
Accession Names and Identifiers
Spirit
Type: Institute identifier
Group: NRCS
Natural Resources Conservation Service
USDA-NRCS, Bridger PMC

9063351 vegetative
Type: Institute identifier
Group: NRCS
Natural Resources Conservation Service

W6 26051
Type: Site identifier
Group: W6
Western Regional Plant Introduction (W6) accession numbers
USDA-ARS, WRPIS

Narrative
Spirit sweetgrass spreads from creeping rhizomes that begin with leaf initiation in late winter or early spring, followed by seedhead emergence within 2-3 weeks. At the Bridger PMC it is common for this plant to be completely headed out by mid-April, flowering in early May, and seed maturity by mid-June. Despite the development of inflorescence and anthesis, the infertile nature of the florets results in poor seed set and low viability (25% to 50% germination). Coupled with a need to provide the seed a period of cold stratification and a slow rate of germination, the most successful method of producing sweetgrass is from vegetative propagules. Sweetgrass plants are semi-erect, with hollow culms 25 to 60 cm tall. The leaf sheaths are open, with ligules 3 to 5 mm long and membranous. The smooth, flat blades are mostly 2 to 5 mm wide, oftentimes reddish at the base, glaucous above, and scabrous below. The herbage is fragrant and vanilla-scented due to the presence of coumarin (a known anti-coagulant). The inflorescence is a pyramidal, compacted to loose, 2 to 12 cm long panicle with bisexual florets. Small spikelets are 3 to 5 mm long, broad, shiny bronze to brownish in color and three-flowered, with only one floret perfect and seed-bearing. Glumes are more or less equal in length, boat-shaped, thin and papery, and acute. Sterile floret lemmas are awnless or nearly so, indurate and hairy, and nearly the same length as the glumes. The sterile floret palea is hyaline, two-nerved, and rounded on the back. The fertile floret lemma is somewhat hardened and hairy at the apex, and the fertile floret palea is three-nerved. The fruit is a very small, dark brown, caryopsis with 2.5 million seeds per kilogram. Thrips are known to frequent sweetgrass plants and seedheads, but do not impose a serious threat at any time. Powdery mildew may become temporarily present at times of elevated humidity, but usually does not have a long-term negative impact on the plants. There may be periodic occurrence of Puccinea rust, Tilletiaceae and Ustilaginaceae smuts, and Septoria fungal leaf spot. Sweetgrass is a culturally significant plant that is primarily utilized by Native Americans for protective properties and spiritual purification. The long leaves are harvested, woven into braids, dried, and burned as a smudge so that evil will not come about.
Anthoxanthum nitens (Weber) Y. Schouten & Veldkamp
Genus:
Anthoxanthum
Family:
Poaceae (alt. Gramineae)
Subfamily:
Pooideae
Tribe:
Poeae
Subtribe:
Anthoxanthinae
Nomen number:

452388
Place of publication:

Blumea 30:348. 1985
Verified:
03/01/2007 by ARS Systematic Botanists.
Other conspecific taxa
Autonyms (not in current use), synonyms and invalid designations
Basionym
Poa nitens Weber

Homotypic Synonym(s)
Hierochloe borealis Roem. & Schult.

Heterotypic Synonym(s)
Hierochloe odorata (L.) P. Beauv.
Holcus odoratus L.
Torresia odorata (L.) Hitchc.

Common names
LanguageNameAlternate namenoteseqCitation
Englishholy grass as Hierochloe odorata1Stace, C. 1995. New flora of the British Isles. Note: = Hierochloe odorata
Englishmanna grass as Hierochloe odorata11961. Webster's third new international dictionary. Note: = Hierochloe odorata
EnglishSeneca grass as Hierochloe odorata11961. Webster's third new international dictionary. Note: = Hierochloe odorata
Englishsweet grass as Hierochloe odorata11961. Webster's third new international dictionary. Note: = Hierochloe odorata
Englishvanilla grass as Hierochloe odorata11961. Webster's third new international dictionary. Note: = Hierochloe odorata
GermanDuftmariengras as Hierochloe odorata2Rehm, S. 1994. Multilingual dictionary of agronomic plants Note: = Hierochloe odorata
Swedishmyskgräs  2Aldén, B., S. Ryman, & M. Hjertson. 2012. Svensk Kulturväxtdatabas, SKUD (Swedish Cultivated and Utility Plants Database; online resource)
Annotations
  • Nomenclature Name Change: 01 Mar 2007, from Hierochloe odorata (L.) P. Beauv. to Anthoxanthum nitens (Weber) Y. Schouten & Veldkamp
Other Links
Storage Information Form
Storage Information Form
Actions
Pathogens
Vouchers
Citations
Pedigree
Description:
The vegetative propagules of Spirit Germplasm sweetgrass were originally collected from a single population located on the Irwin Brown Ranch in Toole County, Montana. The legal description for the site is T37N R3E, Section 24. The physical characteristics of the site are a silty clay loam soil texture, a 5% slope on a west aspect, an elevation of 1,128 to 1,137 m (3,700 to 3,730 ft), and annual precipitation at 711 to 762 mm (28 to 30 in). It was collected in 1991 by Lynnel A. Hoffman, then the Soil Conservationist with the USDA, Soil Conservation Service at Shelby, Montana.