Burke: Polypogon viridis vs. Polypogon monspeliensis

	Polypogon viridis	Polypogon monspeliensis
	beardless rabbit's-foot grass	annual rabbit's-foot grass
Habit		Tufted annual, the culms 0.5-7 dm. tall, often decumbent and freely rooting below.
Leaves		Sheaths open, smooth to scabrous; ligules 3-10 mm. long, strongly puberulent, narrowed to a blunt, lacerate tip; blades flat, scabrous, 4-7 mm. broad.
Flowers		Inflorescence a dense panicle 2-15 cm. long; spikelets 1-flowered, articulate below the glume; glumes 2-3.5 mm. long, tawny with age, awned from between very short, rounded lobes, the awns 6-10 mm. long; lemmas about half as long as the glumes, smooth and shining, the tip rounded, with a slender, terminal awn exceeding the glumes by about 1.5 mm.; paleas subequal to the lemmas, 2-nerved.

	Polypogon viridis	Polypogon monspeliensis
Flowering time	June-September	May-August
Habitat	Shores of streams and rivers, dredge spoils.	Wet to dry waste areas, including vernal pools where the water is brackish.
Distribution	Occurring west of the Cascades crest and in the Columbia River Gorge in Washington; British Columbia to California, east to Texas; also in the northeastern U.S. [WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]	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]
Origin	Introduced from Eurasia	Introduced from Eurasia
Conservation status	Not of concern	Not of concern
Sibling taxa	P. australis, P. fugax, P. interruptus, P. maritimus, P. monspeliensis	P. australis, P. fugax, P. interruptus, P. maritimus, P. viridis
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

Polypogon viridis

Polypogon monspeliensis

beardless rabbit's-foot grass

annual rabbit's-foot grass

Habit

Tufted annual, the culms 0.5-7 dm. tall, often decumbent and freely rooting below.

Leaves

Sheaths open, smooth to scabrous;

ligules 3-10 mm. long, strongly puberulent, narrowed to a blunt, lacerate tip;

blades flat, scabrous, 4-7 mm. broad.

Flowers

Inflorescence a dense panicle 2-15 cm. long;

spikelets 1-flowered, articulate below the glume;

glumes 2-3.5 mm. long, tawny with age, awned from between very short, rounded lobes, the awns 6-10 mm. long;

lemmas about half as long as the glumes, smooth and shining, the tip rounded, with a slender, terminal awn exceeding the glumes by about 1.5 mm.;

paleas subequal to the lemmas, 2-nerved.

Polypogon viridis

Polypogon monspeliensis

Flowering time

June-September

May-August

Habitat

Shores of streams and rivers, dredge spoils.

Wet to dry waste areas, including vernal pools where the water is brackish.

Distribution

Occurring west of the Cascades crest and in the Columbia River Gorge in Washington; British Columbia to California, east to Texas; also in the northeastern U.S.

[WildflowerSearch map]

[BONAP county map]