Poa arctica |
Poa porsildii |
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arctic bluegrass |
Porsild's bluegrass |
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Habit | Plants perennial; usually strongly anthocyanic; rhizomatous, rhizomes usually well developed, sometimes poorly developed, shoots usually solitary. | Plants perennial; densely tufted, not stoloniferous, not rhizomatous. | ||||||||||||||||
Culms | 7.5-60 cm, slender to stout, terete or weakly compressed, bases usually decumbent, not branching above the bases; nodes terete, proximal nodes usually not exserted, 0-2 exserted above. |
(12)17-30(40) cm, erect or the bases decumbent, with (0)1(2) exserted nodes. |
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Sheaths | closed for (1/6)1/5 – 2/5 their length, terete, glabrous, smooth or sparsely scabrous, bases of basal sheaths glabrous, distal sheath lengths 1.4-4(5.3) times blade lengths; collars smooth, glabrous; ligules (1)2-7 mm, glabrous, smooth or sparsely to infrequently moderately scabrous, apices usually rounded to obtuse or acute, rarely truncate, entire or lacerate; blades 1-6 mm wide, flat or folded, somewhat involute, smooth, glabrous, apices broadly prow-shaped, cauline blades subequal or gradually reduced distally, flag leaf blades 0.7-9 cm. |
closed for 1/3 – 2/3 their length, terete, bases of basal sheaths glabrous; collars smooth, glabrous; ligules of cauline leaves 1-2 mm, smooth, apices truncate to obtuse, ligules of the innovation leaves shorter than 0.5 mm, scabrous, truncate; innovation blades not or indistinctly differentiated from the cauline blades, flat or weakly involute, adaxial surfaces sparsely to fairly densely finely scabrous between the veins; cauline blades 1-3 mm wide, folded, fairly thin to moderately thick, soft, abaxial surfaces smooth, apices narrowly prow-shaped. |
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Basal branching | mainly extravaginal. |
intra-vaginal. |
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Panicles | (2)3.5-15 cm, ovoid to broadly pyramidal, usually open, sparse, with 10-40(60) spikelets, proximal internodes shorter than 1.5(3) cm, with (1)2-5 branches per node; branches 1.5-6 cm, spreading soon after emergence from the sheath, thin, sinuous, and flexuous to fairly stout and straight, terete, smooth or sparsely to infrequently moderately scabrous, with (1)2-5 spikelets, the spikelets not crowded. |
2-5(6) cm, erect or nodding, ovoid to pyramidal, slightly contracted or open, sparse, with fewer than 20 spikelets; nodes with 1-2 branches; branches 2-4 cm, ascending to widely spreading, occasionally reflexed, flexuous, lax, slender, terete, smooth or sparsely scabrous, with 1-3(4) spikelets. |
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Spikelets | (3.5) 4.5-8 mm, lengths to 3.5 times widths, laterally compressed, sometimes bulbiferous; florets (2)3-6, infrequently bulb-forming; rachilla internodes smooth or muriculate, proximal internodes glabrous or sparsely softly puberulent to long-villous. |
4-7 mm, lengths to 3 times widths, broadly lanceolate to narrowly ovate, laterally compressed, not sexually dimorphic, often strongly anthocyanic; florets 3-4; rachilla internodes smooth, glabrous or sparsely puberulent. |
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Glumes | lanceolate to broadly lanceolate, distinctly or weakly keeled, keels usually smooth, sometimes sparsely scabrous distally, lateral veins usually moderately pronounced; lower glumes (3)3.5-5(6) mm, 3-veined; upper glumes 3.5-5.5(6.5) mm, nearly equaling to slightly exceeding the lowest lemmas, or distinctly shorter; calluses glabrous or webbed, hairs sparse and short to over 1/3 – 2/3 the lemma length; lemmas (2.7)3-6(7) mm, lanceolate to broadly lanceolate, usually strongly purple, distinctly keeled, keels, marginal veins, and lateral veins long-villous, hairs on the lateral veins sometimes shorter, lateral veins prominent, intercostal regions short-villous to softly puberulent at least near the base, glabrous elsewhere, smooth to weakly muriculate and/or usually sparsely scabrous, infrequently moderately scabrous, margins broadly hyaline, glabrous, apices acute; palea keels usually short- to long-villous for most of their length, rarely nearly glabrous and scabrous, intercostal regions broad, usually at least sparsely softly puberulent, rarely glabrous, apices scabrous; anthers 1.4-2.5 mm, sometimes aborted late in development. |
thin, somewhat lustrous, distinctly keeled, keels smooth; lower glumes 3-veined, distinctly shorter than the lowest lemmas; calluses glabrous; lemmas 4-6 mm, lanceolate, distinctly keeled, thinly membranous, sparsely to moderately densely and finely scabrous, usually glabrous, rarely sparsely softly puberulent proximally, lateral veins moderately prominent, margins glabrous, apices acute; palea keels sparsely to moderately densely scabrous; anthers vestigial (0.1-0.2 mm) or 2.5-3 mm. |
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2n | = 36, 42, 56, 60, 62-68, 70, ca. 72, 74-76, 78-80, 82-84, 86, 88, 99, 106. |
= unknown. |
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Poa arctica |
Poa porsildii |
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Distribution |
AK; CO; ID; MT; NM; NV; UT; WA; WY; AB; BC; MB; NL; NT; NU; ON; QC; SK; YT; Greenland
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AK; NT; YT |
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Discussion | Poa arctica is a common circumboreal species of arctic and alpine regions, growing mainly in mesic to subhydric, acidic tundra and alpine meadows, and on rocky slopes. It extends south in the Rocky Mountains to New Mexico. The frequency of sterile anthers in plants of the high arctic suggests that P. arctica is sometimes apomictic in that region. Over most of the rest of its range, P. arctica usually develops normal anthers. This and isozyme data for populations from alpine and low arctic regions suggest sexual reproduction is common in these habitats. The most reliable way to distinguish Poa arctica from P. pratensis (p. 522), particularly subsp. alpigena, is by the wider paleas and the presence of hairs between the palea keels. Bulbiferous forms of P. arctica differ from P. stenantha var. vivipara (p. 594) in not being glaucous, and in having rhizomes and terete, smooth panicle branches. Poa xgaspensis (p. 601) also resembles P. arctica, but it has sharply keeled, more scabrous glumes and a spikelet shape that is intermediate between P. pratensis and P. alpina (p. 518). Poa arctica forms natural hybrids with both P. pratensis and P. secunda (p. 586). (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Poa porsildii is an alpine, calciphilic, mesophilic, dioecious species that grows from eastern Alaska to the western Northwest Territories. It differs from P. cusickii subsp. purpurascens (p. 562) in having panicles with laxer, smooth, and more slender branches, lemmas that are usually glabrous, and in having staminate plants. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Key |
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Source | FNA vol. 24. | FNA vol. 24, p. 563. | ||||||||||||||||
Parent taxa | Poaceae > subfam. Pooideae > tribe Poeae > Poa > subg. Poa > sect. Poa | Poaceae > subfam. Pooideae > tribe Poeae > Poa > subg. Poa > sect. Madropoa > subsect. Epiles | ||||||||||||||||
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Name authority | R. Br. | Gjaerev. | ||||||||||||||||
Web links |