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Letterman's bluegrass

seashore bluegrass

Habit Plants perennial, 1–12 cm tall; densely cespitose. Plants perennial, dioecious, (7)15–60 cm tall; loosely cespitose, rhizomatous, and stoloniferous, rhizomes and stolons to 400 cm long.
Culms

stout, 1.5–2 mm thick;

nodes terete, 0(1) exserted.

Basal branching

intra- and extravaginal or mainly intravaginal.

mainly intravaginal; some extravaginal.

Leaves

sheaths closed to 25% of their length;

ligules 1–3 mm;

blades flat or folded, or slightly inrolled, 0.5–2 mm wide.

sheaths closed about 50% of their length, bases of basal sheaths glabrous;

collars smooth, glabrous;

ligules 1–5 mm;

blades moderately to densely scabrous or minutely hairy on and between veins, blades of tillers to 30 cm;

cauline blades involute; somewhat arcuate, 2–4 mm wide; uppermost blades 1–10 cm.

Inflorescences

erect, contracted, 1–3 cm long, usually exserted from the sheaths;

branches erect to steeply ascending; slender; to 1.5 cm.

erect; ovoid to lanceolate, contracted, often interrupted, 3–15 cm;

spikelets 15–80;

branches 1-2; erect, 1–6 cm; stiff, with 3–17 spikelets.

Spikelets

3–4 mm, green or purple;

florets 2–3;

rachilla internodes less than 1 mm long; smooth.

9–17 mm; to 3 times as long as wide;

florets 3–6(10).

Glumes

lanceolate to broadly lanceolate, 2.4– 3.6(4) mm, usually equaling or exceeding the lowest lemma, frequently exceeding the upper florets;

lower glumes 3-veined.

broadly lanceolate, subequal to adjacent florets;

keels sparsely scabrous near tips;

lower glumes 3-veined;

upper glumes usually more than 7 mm, 3–5-veined.

Calluses

glabrous.

usually with a line of crisp to sinuous hairs around the base of the lemma, sometimes glabrous or with diffuse; short; cobwebby hairs.

Lemmas

lanceolate, 2.5–3 mm long, distinctly keeled; thin, glabrous;

keels and marginal veins rarely sparsely puberulent;

tips acute.

lanceolate; (6)7.5–11 mm, 5–7(11)-veined, distinctly keeled;

keels and marginal veins, sometimes also intermediate veins; short-villous to softly puberulent; area between veins smooth to scabrous, glabrous or softly puberulent;

tips acute.

Anthers

0.2–0.8 mm.

vestigial and 0.1–0.2 mm, or (2)3–4(5)mm.

2n

=14.

=28.

Poa lettermanii

Poa macrantha

Distribution
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Rocky alpine ridges and ledges. 2900–3100m. Casc. CA, ID, NV, WA; north to British Columbia, east to CO. Native.

This is a small, cespitose, alpine bluegrass, most similar to P. suksdorfii. Both have subequal glumes that tend to be longer than the lowest lemma, but P. suksdorfii has larger spikelets with longer glumes. In Oregon, P. lettermanii is known only from high elevation on South Sister in the central Cascades.

Coastal sand dunes. 0–100m. Est. CA, WA; north to AK. Native.

Source Flora of Oregon, volume 1, page 459
Rob Soreng, Barbara Wilson, Richard Brainerd, Nick Otting
Flora of Oregon, volume 1, page 460
Rob Soreng, Barbara Wilson, Richard Brainerd, Nick Otting
Sibling taxa
P. alpina, P. annua, P. bolanderi, P. bulbosa, P. chambersii, P. compressa, P. confinis, P. cusickii, P. fendleriana, P. glauca, P. howellii, P. iconia, P. infirma, P. laxiflora, P. leibergii, P. leptocoma, P. macrantha, P. mansfieldii, P. marcida, P. nemoralis, P. nervosa, P. palustris, P. piperi, P. pratensis, P. pringlei, P. reflexa, P. rhizomata, P. secunda, P. stenantha, P. suksdorfii, P. trivialis, P. unilateralis, P. wallowensis, P. wheeleri
P. alpina, P. annua, P. bolanderi, P. bulbosa, P. chambersii, P. compressa, P. confinis, P. cusickii, P. fendleriana, P. glauca, P. howellii, P. iconia, P. infirma, P. laxiflora, P. leibergii, P. leptocoma, P. lettermanii, P. mansfieldii, P. marcida, P. nemoralis, P. nervosa, P. palustris, P. piperi, P. pratensis, P. pringlei, P. reflexa, P. rhizomata, P. secunda, P. stenantha, P. suksdorfii, P. trivialis, P. unilateralis, P. wallowensis, P. wheeleri
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