OregonFlora: Puccinellia nutkaensis vs. Puccinellia pumila

	Puccinellia nutkaensis	Puccinellia pumila
	Alaska alkali grass	smooth alkali grass
Habit	Plants perennial, 10–90 cm tall; cespitose, sometimes rooting at the nodes of buried stems and appearing rhizomatous or stoloniferous.	Plants perennial, 8–40 cm tall; cespitose or sometimes rooting at the nodes of buried stems and appearing rhizomatous or stoloniferous.
Leaves	blades flat to involute, 1.5– 6 mm wide when flat.	blades flat to involute, 1–3 mm wide.
Inflorescences	panicles compact to open at maturity, 5–30 cm; lower branches erect to ascending, occasionally spreading to descending, spikeletbearing from near the base, sometimes the spikelets confned to the distal half; pedicels sparsely to densely scabrous, often subtended by a small bract; epidermal cells often tumid.	panicles; dense to open at maturity, 3–20 cm; lower branches ascending to descending; spikelets borne from near the base or confned to the distal 67%; pedicels smooth or with a few scattered scabers, often with tumid epidermal cells distally.
Spikelets	3.5–12 mm, 3–7 florets.	4–9 mm, 3–7 florets.
Glumes	rounded over the back; veins obscure; tips acute to truncate; lower glumes 1–1.6 mm; upper glumes 2–3 mm.	rounded over the back; veins obscure to distinct; tips acute to obtuse; lower glumes 1.4–2(4)mm; upper glumes 2–3(9)mm.
Lemmas	(2.2)2.8–4(5) mm, 5-veined; veins obscure, not extending to the margins; midveins smooth distally; margins near the tips uniformly and densely scabrous; tips usually acute to obtuse, sometimes acuminate; entire.	2.5–3.5(4.6)mm, 5-veined; veins obscure, not extending to the margins; margins near the tip usually smooth, occasionally with a few scattered scabrules; entire; tips acute to obtuse; entire.
Anthers	0.5–1.4 mm.	0.7–1.2 mm.
2n	=42, 56.

	Puccinellia nutkaensis	Puccinellia pumila
Distribution	[WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]	[BONAP county map]
Discussion	Coastal salt marshes. 0–50m. Est. CA, WA; north to AK, most of Canada east to Greenland. Native. Similar Puccinellia pumila lacks the dense scabrules along the lemma margins near the tip. Larger P. nutkaensis plants, with more open panicles, can be confused with P. nuttalliana, which is rare at the coast. Puccinellia nuttalliana lacks tumid cells on the pedicels, tends to be more strongly scabrous on inflorescence branches and pedicels, with the pedicels scabrous very nearly to the top, and has lemma margins that are entire except for the dense scabrules.	Coastal salt marshes. 0–50m. Est. Native. CA, WA; northwestern and northeastern North America. Native. Puccinellia pumila is a short grass of coastal salt marshes, with nearly smooth inflorescence branches and pedicels. Its lemma margins lack the pointed hairs and scabrules that characterize P. nutkaensis.
Source	Flora of Oregon, volume 1, page 472 Barbara Wilson, Richard Brainerd, Nick Otting	Flora of Oregon, volume 1, page 473 Barbara Wilson, Richard Brainerd, Nick Otting
Sibling taxa	P. distans, P. lemmonii, P. nuttalliana, P. pumila, P. simplex	P. distans, P. lemmonii, P. nutkaensis, P. nuttalliana, P. simplex
Synonyms	Puccinellia grandis, Puccinellia lucida	Puccinellia paupercula, Puccinellia paupercula var. alaskana
Web links	Local floras: BC, CA, OR, WA Local Web sites: CalFlora, CalPhotos, Flora NW, PNW Herbaria WildflowerSearch iNaturalist (observations) USDA Plants Database LBJ Wildflower Center SEINet Plants of the World Online Encyclopedia of Life Wikipedia Google Image Search	Local floras: BC, CA, OR, WA Local Web sites: CalFlora, CalPhotos, Flora NW, PNW Herbaria WildflowerSearch iNaturalist (observations) USDA Plants Database LBJ Wildflower Center SEINet Plants of the World Online Encyclopedia of Life Wikipedia Google Image Search

Puccinellia pumila

Alaska alkali grass

smooth alkali grass

Habit

Plants perennial, 10–90 cm tall; cespitose, sometimes rooting at the nodes of buried stems and appearing rhizomatous or stoloniferous.

Plants perennial, 8–40 cm tall; cespitose or sometimes rooting at the nodes of buried stems and appearing rhizomatous or stoloniferous.

Leaves

blades flat to involute, 1.5– 6 mm wide when flat.

blades flat to involute, 1–3 mm wide.

Inflorescences

panicles compact to open at maturity, 5–30 cm; lower branches erect to ascending, occasionally spreading to descending, spikeletbearing from near the base, sometimes the spikelets confned to the distal half;

pedicels sparsely to densely scabrous, often subtended by a small bract;

epidermal cells often tumid.

panicles; dense to open at maturity, 3–20 cm; lower branches ascending to descending;

spikelets borne from near the base or confned to the distal 67%;

pedicels smooth or with a few scattered scabers, often with tumid epidermal cells distally.

Spikelets

3.5–12 mm, 3–7 florets.

4–9 mm, 3–7 florets.

Glumes

rounded over the back;

veins obscure;

tips acute to truncate;

lower glumes 1–1.6 mm;

upper glumes 2–3 mm.

rounded over the back;

veins obscure to distinct;

tips acute to obtuse;

lower glumes 1.4–2(4)mm;

upper glumes 2–3(9)mm.

Lemmas

(2.2)2.8–4(5) mm, 5-veined;

veins obscure, not extending to the margins;

midveins smooth distally;

margins near the tips uniformly and densely scabrous;

tips usually acute to obtuse, sometimes acuminate; entire.

2.5–3.5(4.6)mm, 5-veined;

veins obscure, not extending to the margins;

margins near the tip usually smooth, occasionally with a few scattered scabrules; entire;

tips acute to obtuse; entire.

Anthers

0.5–1.4 mm.

0.7–1.2 mm.

=42, 56.

Puccinellia nutkaensis

Puccinellia pumila

Distribution

[WildflowerSearch map]

[BONAP county map]

Discussion

Coastal salt marshes. 0–50m. Est. CA, WA; north to AK, most of Canada east to Greenland. Native.

Similar Puccinellia pumila lacks the dense scabrules along the lemma margins near the tip. Larger P. nutkaensis plants, with more open panicles, can be confused with P. nuttalliana, which is rare at the coast. Puccinellia nuttalliana lacks tumid cells on the pedicels, tends to be more strongly scabrous on inflorescence branches and pedicels, with the pedicels scabrous very nearly to the top, and has lemma margins that are entire except for the dense scabrules.

Coastal salt marshes. 0–50m. Est. Native. CA, WA; northwestern and northeastern North America. Native.

Puccinellia pumila is a short grass of coastal salt marshes, with nearly smooth inflorescence branches and pedicels. Its lemma margins lack the pointed hairs and scabrules that characterize P. nutkaensis.

Source

Flora of Oregon, volume 1, page 472
Barbara Wilson, Richard Brainerd, Nick Otting

Flora of Oregon, volume 1, page 473
Barbara Wilson, Richard Brainerd, Nick Otting

Sibling taxa

P. distans, P. lemmonii, P. nuttalliana, P. pumila, P. simplex

P. distans, P. lemmonii, P. nutkaensis, P. nuttalliana, P. simplex

Synonyms

Puccinellia grandis, Puccinellia lucida

Puccinellia paupercula, Puccinellia paupercula var. alaskana

Web links