Burke: Poa lettermanii vs. Poa confinis

	Poa lettermanii	Poa confinis
	Letterman's blue grass	coastline blue grass
Habit		Strongly rhizomatous, dioecious perennial, mostly glabrous, the culms 10-35 cm. tall with a decumbent base.
Leaves		Leaves basally tufted, the sheaths open for over half their length, the blades involute, reaching to the panicles, scarcely 2 mm. broad, the tips only slightly prow-like; ligules membranous, acute, 0.8-2 mm. long, entire, pubescent.
Flowers		Inflorescence a compact panicle, 1.5-3.5 cm. long, the branches erect, tawny to purplish; spikelets 3-4 flowers, the rachilla usually with a terminal rudiment; glumes 3-nerved, about equal in width, the first 2.5-3 mm. long, the second 3-4 mm. long; lemmas strongly keeled, faintly 5-nerved, glabrous, unawned.
Fruits		Utricle

	Poa lettermanii	Poa confinis
Flowering time	July-September	May-June
Habitat	Mesic to wet, rocky, alpine slopes	Coastal sand dunes.
Distribution	Occurring in the Cascades Range in Washington; British Columbia to California, east to the Rocky Mountains. [WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]	Occurring west of the Cascades crest in Washington along the coast; British Columbia to California. [BONAP county map]
Origin	Native	Native
Conservation status	Not of concern	Not of concern
Sibling taxa	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. 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. 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
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

Poa lettermanii

Poa confinis

Letterman's blue grass

coastline blue grass

Habit

Strongly rhizomatous, dioecious perennial, mostly glabrous, the culms 10-35 cm. tall with a decumbent base.

Leaves

Leaves basally tufted, the sheaths open for over half their length, the blades involute, reaching to the panicles, scarcely 2 mm. broad, the tips only slightly prow-like;

ligules membranous, acute, 0.8-2 mm. long, entire, pubescent.

Flowers

Inflorescence a compact panicle, 1.5-3.5 cm. long, the branches erect, tawny to purplish;

spikelets 3-4 flowers, the rachilla usually with a terminal rudiment;

glumes 3-nerved, about equal in width, the first 2.5-3 mm. long, the second 3-4 mm. long;

lemmas strongly keeled, faintly 5-nerved, glabrous, unawned.

Fruits

Utricle