Poa autumnalis |
Poa laxa × glauca |
|
---|---|---|
autumn bluegrass |
|
|
Habit | Plants perennial; not rhizomatous, not stoloniferous, loosely tufted. | Plants perennial; not or only slightly glaucous; densely tufted, not stoloniferous, not rhizomatous. |
Culms | 23-86 cm tall, 0.8-1.8 mm thick, bases often decumbent. |
6-18 cm, with 0(1) exserted nodes, upper node in the lower 1/3 of the culms. |
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 1/10 – 1/5 their length, terete, smooth or very sparsely scabrous, distal sheath lengths 0.8-1.8 times blade lengths; ligules 1.25-2.5 mm, smooth, apices obtuse, often lacerate; blades thin, sparsely scabrous adaxially, flag leaf blades 1.6-3.8 cm. |
Basal branching | mainly pseudointravaginal. |
mixed intra- and extra vaginal. |
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. |
1.5-3.5 cm, slightly lax, ovoid, contracted to loosely contracted, dense to moderately dense, with 2-6 branches per node; branches steeply ascending, fairly straight, sulcate or angled, smooth or infrequently the angles sparsely scabrous, not glaucous. |
Spikelets | 3-8.2 mm, laterally compressed; florets 2-4(6); rachilla internodes smooth, sparsely softly puberulent. |
laterally compressed; florets 2-5; rachilla internodes smooth, glabrous, lower internodes 0.8-1 mm. |
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. |
equal, broadly lanceolate, thin; lower glumes 0.75-1.05 mm wide, 3-veined; upper glumes 3.7-4.7 mm long, 0.9-1.3 mm wide, lengths 3.7-4.1 times widths; calluses all glabrous, or some proximal florets within a spikelet sparsely webbed; lemmas 3.7-4.5 mm, broadly lanceolate, distinctly keeled, thin, keels and marginal veins short- to long-villous, hairs extending 1/3-1/2 the keel length, lateral veins usually glabrous, or infrequently sparsely softly puberulent, intercostal regions glabrous; palea keels finely scabrous; anthers 0.8-1.2 mm, poorly formed, sacs not fully maturing, not dehiscing, about 0.1 mm in diameter. |
2n | = 28. |
= ca. 65, 70. |
Poa autumnalis |
Poa laxa × glauca |
|
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
|
|
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 laxa × glauca is an eastern low arctic entity which has passed under the name P. flexuosa Sm., P. laxa subsp. flexuosa (Sm.) Hyl., and, more recently, P. laxiuscula (Blytt) Lange. It has also been confused with P. glauca (p. 576). It can be distinguished from P. laxa (see previous) by its more open sheaths and poorly developed, indehiscent anthers. It differs from P. glauca in its broad, thin glumes and lemmas; compact panicles; smooth or nearly smooth, non-glaucous branches; and poorly developed, indehiscent anthers. It also grows in wetter habitats than P. glauca, often around seeps. Its chloroplast DNA is more like that of the American P. laxa subsp. fernaldiana than that of the European subspp. flexuosa and laxa or of P. glauca. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 24, p. 514. | FNA vol. 24, p. 572. |
Parent taxa | Poaceae > subfam. Pooideae > tribe Poeae > Poa > subg. Poa > sect. Sylvestres | Poaceae > subfam. Pooideae > tribe Poeae > Poa > subg. Poa > sect. Oreinos |
Sibling taxa | ||
Name authority | Muhl. ex Elliott | unknown |
Web links |