Not to be semantically confused with : Creeping Soft-grass (Holcus mollis) [another grass with similar name]

Easily mistaken for : other Bent grasses

Hybridizes with :

• Black Bent (Agrostis gigantea) to produce Agrostis gigantea × stolonifera which is
• Brown Bent (Agrostis vinealis) to produce Agrostis stolonifera × vinealis which is
• Common Bent ( ) to produce Agrostis capillaris × stolonifera which is

There are two Inter-Genera Hybrids with (Polypogon), the Genera then being called × Agropogon (a contraction of the two Genera involved) :

• Creeping Bent (Agrostis stolonifera) × Annual Beard-Grass (Polypogon monspeliensis) to produce × Agropogon lutosus which resembles an awned version of Water Bent (Polypogon viridis) despite the Inter-Genera hybrid just below acually being a hybrid with Water Bent!
• Creeping Bent (Agrostis stolonifera) × Water Bent (Polypogon viridis) to produce × Agropogon robinsonii which is only a short-lived perennial and, like the Inter-Genera hybrid above (× Agropogon lutosus).

The mere existence of inter-genera (aka inter-specific) hybrids probably means that the taxonomy of one (or more) species is incorrect; inter-genera hybrids should not really exist. Inter-genera hybrids are usually sterile, unable to propagate sexually (although they may spread vegetatively).

See Inter-Genera Hybrids.

The species name of inter-genera hybrids is usually a contraction of the Genus names of the two species in question; inter-genera hybrids between Agrostis and Polypogon are called Agropogon. It seems that the names are chosen from bits of the genera names when the genera are arranged in alphabetical order, although where the red partial should end and the blue partial should begin seems entirely arbitrary. Thus the 'A' of Agrostis comes before the 'P' of Polypogon resulting in Agropogon. Three-genera and four-genera hybrids are likewise a mish-mash between 3 or 4 genera chosen from small sections of the genera names. Or so your Author thinks...

Bents are hard to differentiate between each other not only because of plastic variation between the same species but also because they so readily hybridize with themselves and with grasses in another genera.

Creeping Bent is an extremely common native plant which is also extremely variable, occurring in dry or wet grasslands and on bare ground, damp meadows, beside canals, by ditches, by ponds, in marshes, beside lakes and rivers and even on dune slacks. Here it is on sand beside the marshes.