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flat-stem blue grass

western blue grass

Habit Glabrous, rhizomatous perennial, sometimes also stoloniferous, the culms 2-4 dm. tall, flattened and 2-edged.
Leaves

Sheaths open to near the base;

ligules 0.5-1.5 mm. long, truncate to rounded, pubescent, entire;

blades 2-4 mm. broad, flat to folded, usually glabrous; the tips prow-like but rather sharply pointed.

Flowers

Inflorescence a compact panicle 3-9 cm. long;

spikelets 3- to 6-flowered;

glumes up to 3 mm. long, subequal, the second broader;

lemmas strongly keeled, 2.5-3.5 mm. long, 5-nerved, pubescent on the keel and marginal nerves;

paleas slightly shorter than the lemmas, 2-keeled.

Poa compressa

Poa suksdorfii

Flowering time June-August July-August
Habitat Waste ground, roadsides, open woods and meadows, usually where moist. Open, rocky ground in alpine areas.
Distribution
Occurring on both sides of the Cascades crest in Washington; Alaska to California, east across most of North America to the Atlantic Coast.
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Occurring on both sides of the Cascades crest in Washington; south-central British Columbia to central Oregon.
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Origin Introduced from Europe Native
Conservation status Not of concern Not of concern
Sibling taxa
P. alpina, P. annua, P. arctica, P. bolanderi, P. bulbosa, P. confinis, P. curtifolia, P. cusickii, P. fendleriana, P. glauca, P. howellii, P. infirma, P. interior, P. laxiflora, P. leibergii, P. leptocoma, P. lettermanii, P. macrantha, P. marcida, P. ×multnomae, P. nemoralis, P. nervosa, P. palustris, P. paucispicula, P. pratensis, P. secunda, P. stenantha, P. suksdorfii, P. trivialis, P. unilateralis, P. wheeleri
P. alpina, P. annua, P. arctica, P. bolanderi, P. bulbosa, P. compressa, P. confinis, P. curtifolia, P. cusickii, P. fendleriana, P. glauca, P. howellii, P. infirma, P. interior, P. laxiflora, P. leibergii, P. leptocoma, P. lettermanii, P. macrantha, P. marcida, P. ×multnomae, P. nemoralis, P. nervosa, P. palustris, P. paucispicula, P. pratensis, P. secunda, P. stenantha, P. trivialis, P. unilateralis, P. wheeleri
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