Poa autumnalis |
Poa kelloggii |
|
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autumn bluegrass |
Kellogg's blue grass, redwood blue grass |
|
Habit | Plants perennial; not rhizomatous, not stoloniferous, loosely tufted. | Plants perennial; rhizomatous, loosely tufted, culms solitary to several. |
Culms | 23-86 cm tall, 0.8-1.8 mm thick, bases often decumbent. |
28-85 cm, erect or the bases decumbent, terete or weakly compressed; nodes terete, 1-2 exserted. |
Sheaths | closed for 1/3 – 1/2 their length; ligules 0.2-1.9(2.5) mm, smooth or obtuse; blades (0.5)1-4 mm wide, flat or folded, thin. |
closed for about 1/15 – 1/5 their length, sometimes fused for a longer distance by a narrow hyaline membrane, terete, bases of basal sheaths glabrous, distal sheath lengths 0.8-1.5 times blade lengths; ligules 0.5-3 mm, scabrous, usually lacerate; blades scarcely reduced in length distally, 2-5 mm wide, flat, lax, apices narrowly prow-shaped, flag leaf blades 5-15 cm long. |
Basal branching | mainly pseudointravaginal. |
mainly extravaginal. |
Panicles | (5)8-20 cm, erect or lax, broadly pyramidal at maturity, open, sparse, lower axils sometimes sparsely pubescent; nodes with 1-2(4) branches; branches 5-12 cm, spreading to reflexed, straight, angled, angles scabrous, with 3-8 spikelets in the distal 1/4-1/3. |
10-20 cm, erect, pyramidal, open, sparse, with 25-70 spikelets; nodes with 1-3(5) branches; branches 5-15 cm, ascending, straight, spreading to eventually reflexed, angled, angles mostly moderately to densely scabrous, with 5-15 spikelets. |
Spikelets | 3-8.2 mm, laterally compressed; florets 2-4(6); rachilla internodes smooth, sparsely softly puberulent. |
4.5-6 mm, lengths 3.5 times widths, laterally compressed; florets 2-3; rachilla internodes, at least some, longer than 1 mm, smooth, glabrous. |
Glumes | distinctly shorter than the adjacent lemmas, distinctly keeled, keels scabrous; lower glumes subulate to lanceolate, (1)3-veined; upper glumes lanceolate to broadly lanceolate; calluses usually glabrous, rarely sparsely and shortly webbed; lemmas (2.8)3-4.6 mm, lanceolate, distinctly keeled, keels and marginal veins short- to long-villous, hairs extending up 3/4 of the keel, lateral veins prominent, intercostal regions softly puberulent, smooth, apices obtuse, blunt; palea keels softly puberulent to short-villous for much of their length, apices scabrous; anthers 1-1.4(2.6) mm. |
distinctly keeled; lower glumes 1-3-veined; upper glumes shorter than or subequal to the lowest lemmas; calluses webbed, hairs over 1/2 the lemma length; lemmas 3.5-5 mm, narrowly lanceolate, distinctly keeled, smooth, glabrous throughout, lateral veins moderately prominent, apices acute to acuminate; paleas smooth to scabrous over the keels; anthers about 2 mm. |
2n | = 28. |
= 56. |
Poa autumnalis |
Poa kelloggii |
|
Distribution |
AL; AR; DC; DE; FL; GA; IL; IN; KY; LA; MD; MI; MS; NC; NJ; OK; PA; SC; TN; TX; VA; NU; QC; Greenland
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CA |
Discussion | Poa autumnalis grows primarily in the southeastern United States, being found in forests of the eastern and western Appalachian piedmont and coastal plain. It is readily distinguished from other perennial species of the eastern United States by its combination of glabrous calluses and pubescent palea keels. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Poa kelloggii grows in rich coastal forests, especially redwood forests, in California. It is not common. Reports from Oregon and British Columbia are based on misidentifications of P. laxiflora (p. 538) and P. howellii (p. 534), respectively. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 24, p. 514. | FNA vol. 24, p. 514. |
Parent taxa | Poaceae > subfam. Pooideae > tribe Poeae > Poa > subg. Poa > sect. Sylvestres | Poaceae > subfam. Pooideae > tribe Poeae > Poa > subg. Poa > sect. Sylvestres |
Sibling taxa | ||
Name authority | Muhl. ex Elliott | Vasey |
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