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Letterman's bluegrass

veiny bluegrass

Habit Plants perennial, 1–12 cm tall; densely cespitose. Plants perennial, sequentially gynomonoecious, 20–65 cm tall; loosely cespitose or with solitary shoots, short-rhizomatous.
Culms

nodes terete, 1–2 exserted.

Basal branching

intra- and extravaginal or mainly intravaginal.

mainly 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 over 67% their length, bases of basal sheaths glabrous, collars of proximal leaves usually pubescent on and near the margins, collar margin hairs longer than those of the sheaths;

ligules 0.5–1.5 mm, ligules of lower culm and sterile shoot leaves to 1 mm, blades of tillers similar to cauline blades or sometimes longer;

cauline blades usually flat, 2–4.5 mm wide; smooth or upper surface sparsely scabrous mainly over the veins;

blades gradually reduced in length higher on the culm or middle blades longest; uppermost blades mostly 3–8 cm long.

Inflorescences

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

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

erect or lax; ovoid to pyramidal; open or loosely contracted; sparse, 8–15 cm;

spikelets 25–80;

branches ascending to spreading; lax, 2.5–8 cm long, 3–5 per node, with 2–8 spikelets.

Spikelets

3–4 mm, green or purple;

florets 2–3;

rachilla internodes less than 1 mm long; smooth.

4–7 mm; to 3.5 times as long as wide;

florets 3–8;

rachilla internodes smooth or scabrous, glabrous or sparsely hispidulous.

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.

lanceolate; over 67% as long as adjacent lemmas;

lower glumes 1–3(5)-veined.

Calluses

glabrous.

glabrous or rarely with minute cobwebby hairs.

Lemmas

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

keels and marginal veins rarely sparsely puberulent;

tips acute.

lanceolate, 3–4.5 mm, distinctly keeled;

keels and marginal veins glabrous or infrequently sparsely short-hairy; area between veins glabrous or hispidulous; smooth or finely scabrous;

tips acute.

Anthers

0.2–0.8 mm.

vestigial and 0.1–0.2 mm or 2.5–4 mm.

2n

=14.

Poa lettermanii

Poa nervosa

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.

Moist conifer or mixed conifer-deciduous forests, waterfalls, seeps. 50–300m. Casc, WV. WA. Native.

Poa wheeleri, once considered part of P. nervosa, has sheaths of lower leaves that are densely scabrous at least in the upper half. Reports of P. nervosa east of the Cascades date from the time before P. wheeleri was recognized as a separate species. Poa nervosa specimens with very inconspicuous collar hairs might be misidentified as P. chambersii, which has a denser inflorescence. Poa laxiflora has a longer panicle with longer, more nodding branches. Poa ×multnomae, a hybrid of P. nervosa × P. secunda, occurs in the Columbia Gorge. It is cespitose and lacks leaf sheath hairs.

Source Flora of Oregon, volume 1, page 459
Rob Soreng, Barbara Wilson, Richard Brainerd, Nick Otting
Flora of Oregon, volume 1, page 461
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. macrantha, P. mansfieldii, P. marcida, P. nemoralis, 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
Synonyms Poa nervosa var. nervosa, Poa vaseyana
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